First Laboratory Workshop in the Middle East for the Analysis of Chemicals Related to the CWC

Participants in a Laboratory Workshop for the Analysis of Chemicals Related to the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The Technical Secretariat and the Government of Jordan co-organised a Laboratory Workshop for the Analysis of Chemicals Related to the Chemical Weapons Convention in Aqaba, Jordan from 4 to 15 November 2012. It was hosted by the Ben Hayyan Aqaba International Laboratories and attended by 11 participants from Iraq, Jordan, Oman, and Yemen.

This was the first workshop of its kind to be held in the Middle East and was modelled along the lines of the Analytical Skills Development courses previously organised in South Africa and Tunisia. The event was opened by H.E. Prof. Dr. Kamel O. Mahadin, Chief Commissioner of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority. Also in attendance were their Excellencies Mr Fawaz Al-Rshidat, Governor of Aqaba, and Mr. Turki O. Arasheeda, Head of the Jordanian National Authority, as well as Dr Aiman Soleiman, General Manager of the Ben Hayyan Aqaba International Laboratories.

The Workshop provided basic training in the use Gas Chromatography (GC) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) for the analysis of chemicals related to the Convention.  The participants received intensive hands-on training in the handling of different sample matrices for subsequent analysis by GC with element-selective detectors and by GC-MS in electron ionisation mode.  Aspects related to good laboratory practice, sample preparation, and the applications of the OPCW Central Analytical Database (OCAD) in compound identification were also covered.

Categories: Asia, International Cooperation