The OPCW Technical Secretariat will hold a course on the enhancement of laboratory skills on chemical weapons-related quantitative mass spectrometry (CW-QMS) at the Finnish Institute for Verification of the Chemical Weapons Convention (VERIFIN) in Helsinki, Finland.
Aim
The CW-QMS course is aimed at improving practical skills in the quantitative analysis of chemicals related to the Convention, through such techniques as liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). For this reason, participants should have previous hands-on experience using LC, GC, and MS. Participants will be introduced to sample preparation and the use of internal standards, method development, optimisation, and validation, and data processing and reporting. They will then be given demonstrations of LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS techniques, followed by hands-on exercises including environmental and biomedical samples.
Content
The CW-QMS course will consist of the following elements:
- Sample preparation and use of internal standards.
- Method development, optimisation, and validation.
- Quantitative/qualitative data processing and reporting.
- Hands-on exercises.
- Quality assurance.