Identification of chemicals related to the chemical weapons convention during an interlaboratory proficiency test

In order to test the ability of laboratories to detect and identify chemicals related to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which prohibits the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons, and to designate laboratories for this task, the Technical Secretariat of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons organises proficiency tests. This paper describes the conduct of such a test at the TNO-Prins Maurits Laboratory in Rijswijk, The Netherlands. The analytical strategies and procedures that resulted in the unambiguous identification in the test samples of chemicals relevant to the CWC are discussed. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.