The participating laboratories receive a number of samples, e.g. soil and water samples that have been contaminated by illicit substances. Each lab gets 14 days to identify and report in an unambiguous manner what substances are present.

“We receive samples that are illicit under the Chemical Weapons Convention. It comprises about 800,000 chemical compounds, so there are a lot to choose between. The samples often contain new chemicals, about which we lack reference data. Finding the illicit chemicals and determine their structures are a great challenge in chemical analysis, a true bait for us professionals,” says Crister Åstot, project manager at FOI.

After waiting for a few months, the FOI researchers were told that they had got the best possible marks.

“Our success is rooted in our dedicated quality assurance and high skills,” says Crister Åstot. “Time and time again, we have proven our ability to handle difficult samples and determine with great precision what they contain.”

The exercise was arranged by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, OPCW, which works for the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. This convention prohibits the production, use and storage of chemical warfare agents, such as mustard gas and sarin. OPCW is assisted by a number of designated laboratories that are certified on the grounds of the annual proficiency tests.

The FOI laboratory is the sole OPCW Designated Laboratory in Scandinavia, having upheld this status since 1997 with the support of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.