Jonathan E. Forman

Sampling and analysis of organophosphorus nerve agents: analytical chemistry in international chemical disarmament

Abstract Chemistry is a science that contributes to all aspects of our everyday lives and our professions. There are clear examples in law enforcement (forensics) and public health and perhaps less clear (but equally important) uses of chemicals in applications that include automobile manufacturing, electronics, packaging materials, currency printing, and even waste management (recycling and value-added products from garbage). Chemistry can also influence international diplomacy – an area that is likely to be unfamiliar to many chemistry professionals. Take for example the United Nations led investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria in August of 2013. Environmental and biomedical samples were collected and analyzed, and they undisputedly confirmed the use of the nerve agent sarin. The results were published in a report by the United Nations Secretary-General and were one of the many influences leading to the accession of The Syrian Arab Republic to the Chemical Weapons Convention (an international treaty prohibiting chemical weapons) and the declaration and dismantlement of a chemical weapons programme. Using this investigation as an example, we highlight some of the chemistry that influenced decision making in a high visibility international event.

Advice on chemical weapons sample stability and storage provided by the Scientific Advisory Board of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to increase investigative capabilities worldwide

The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has provided advice on the long-term storage and stability of samples collected in the context of chemical weapons investigations. The information they compiled and reviewed is beneficial to all laboratories that carry out analysis of samples related to chemical warfare agents and is described herein. The preparation of this report was undertaken on request from the OPCW Director-General. The main degradation products for chemicals on the Schedules in the Annex on Chemicals of the Chemical Weapons Convention are tabulated. The expertise of the 25 scientists comprising the SAB, a review of the scientific literature on environmental and biomedical sample analysis, and answers to a questionnaire from chemists of nine OPCW Designated Laboratories, were drawn upon to provide the advice. Ten recommendations to ensure the long-term storage and stability of samples collected in relation to the potential use of chemical weapons were provided and are repeated here for the consideration of all laboratories worldwide.

Chemical weapons: what is the purpose? The Hague Ethical Guidelines

Chemical weapons cause harm in a most unselective manner, a silent threat bringing death through painful struggle, indiscriminately injuring and killing combatants and civilians alike, without destroying buildings and infrastructure — and terrorizing those who have survived. The very existence of weaponised chemicals requires the knowledge of chemistry, making them a blight on chemists, on the chemical profession, and the chemical industry. Imagine a day when chemists, along with other scientists such as physicists, toxicologists, and (chemical) engineers whose skill sets might also be exploited for developing chemical weapons, vow not to participate in activities related to developing new weapons of war, like in Sandburg’s ([1936] 1990) poem, The People, Yes: Sometime they’ll give a war and nobody will come. Such a stance might sound na€ıve, yet to shrug shoulders and denounce any involvement and responsibility is at the least perfunctory. Chemists have invented explosives, incendiaries, defoliants, and chemicals that attack skin and lungs; have helped to develop technologies to deploy such chemicals; and created the industries capable of producing these chemicals on a large scale. Like Oppenheimer and Einstein, some physicists have reflected on the dichotomy of progress in nuclear physics leading to atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as chemists have mourned their problematic involvement in the development of ever more deadly weapons, like Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his letter exchange with Berta von Suttner. But other eminent members of the chemical profession have neglected their personal responsibility, for example, Chemistry Nobel Laureate Fritz Haber, a protagonist of the use of corrosive volatile chemicals as warfare agents and the first to personally deploy them on a large scale (e.g. Gal 2015); or Chemistry Nobel Laureate Richard Kuhn who helped in “perfecting” the neurotoxicity of the organophosphate nerve agents (Schmaltz 2005, 480–510), accidentally discovered by Gerhard Schrader in search for effective pesticides (Pfingsten 2003); or the famous chemist and textbook author Louis Fieser who painstakingly optimised napalm in order to make it stick better to human skin where it could continue to burn (Koch 2016). These are examples of how scientists, deliberately or involuntarily like Schrader, can become entangled in a cobweb of political pressures, economic interests, and professional ambition. These examples raise questions on whether chemistry professionals are free of responsibility for their inventions. Can they neglect thoughts about the consequences of their work? In a manner similar to addressing the impact of chemicals for environmental protection through REACH regulations and engaging with relevant stakeholders (including practitioners of chemistry and those outside the sciences that rely on the chemical industry for economic and societal benefit), is there a need to more actively address the same questions for the protection of humans, in particular how abuse of science for development of weapons can be minimised? Fortunately, awareness of this need is growing

OPCW-IUPAC Workshop on Innovative Technologies for Chemical Security

Abstract The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine of the USA, the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, and the Brazilian Chemical Society held a workshop: “Innovative Technologies for Chemical Security”, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 3 to 5 July 2017. This event was part of a four workshop series held to inform the report of the OPCW Scientific Advisory Board on developments in science and technology to the Fourth Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which will be held in November 2018. The workshop explored the potential of new technologies to enhance capabilities for the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. There is a continuing need for recognition that emerging scientific developments can have beneficial applications with respect to implementation of the Convention, particularly in prevention of re-emergence of chemical weapons. The objectives of this workshop were to present, discuss and critically evaluate the emergence and practical applications of new and existing technologies – as tools for detecting biochemical change in complex environments – and the applications of these technologies in support of chemical disarmament and chemical security. This issue of Pure and Applied Chemistry presents a series of papers that originate from topics discussed in the workshop. This preface describes the scientific review process for the Chemical Weapons Convention and how it was supported by the Rio de Janeiro workshop, as well as introducing the papers in the collection and their corresponding authors.

Innovative technologies for chemical security

Abstract Advances across the chemical and biological (life) sciences are increasingly enabled by ideas and tools from sectors outside these disciplines, with information and communication technologies playing a key role across 21st century scientific development. In the face of rapid technological change, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (“the Convention”), seeks technological opportunities to strengthen capabilities in the field of chemical disarmament. The OPCW Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) in its review of developments in science and technology examined the potential uses of emerging technologies for the implementation of the Convention at a workshop entitled “Innovative Technologies for Chemical Security”, held from 3 to 5 July 2017, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event, organized in cooperation with the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine of the United States of America, the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, and the Brazilian Chemical Society, was attended by 45 scientists and engineers from 22 countries. Their insights into the use of innovative technological tools and how they might benefit chemical disarmament and non-proliferation informed the SAB’s report on developments in science and technology for the Fourth Review Conference of the Convention (to be held in November 2018), and are described herein, as are recommendations that the SAB submitted to the OPCW Director-General and the States Parties of the Convention. It is concluded that technologies exist or are under development that could be used for investigations, contingency, assistance and protection, reducing risks to inspectors, and enhancing sampling and analysis.

Education, outreach and the OPCW: growing partnerships for a global ban

Abstract The Chemical Weapons Convention remains a landmark international treaty. It was the first multilateral agreement to ban an entire class of weapons of mass destruction and include a strict verification regime to monitor compliance. Scientists were not only deeply engaged in the negotiation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, but have been central to the life of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) ever since it came into existence almost 20 years ago. Over that time, during which the OPCW focused primarily on its mission to oversee the destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles, the organization has relied on a very committed core of scientific expertise – from within and outside – to help guide it. As that core task comes to a close, the Organization faces a new challenge: ensuring that chemical weapons do not return. Meeting that challenge will require new approaches to the OPCW’s mission.

Preface: Science, disarmament and diplomacy in chemical education: the example of the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons – The Spring 2016 Confchem

Abstract In May and June of 2016 the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), IUPAC and the ACS CHED Committee on Computers in Chemical Education (CCCE) collaboratively ran an online conference hosted with the online ConfChem conference system on “Science, Disarmament and Diplomacy in Chemical Education.” This ConfChem Online Conference was designed to highlight the work of the OPCW and the important contribution of scientists and educators to achieving its goals, the science that underpins the Chemical Weapons Convention, and how scientific and technological advances will help to better implement the Convention in the future. The OPCW is the implementing body for Chemical Weapons Convention, an international disarmament treaty banning chemical weapons. The organisation is now approaching the 20th anniversary of the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1997. Twenty years that have seen the destruction of more than 67 000 metric ton of the world’s declared military stockpiles of chemical weapons and a Nobel Peace Prize in 2013. With 192 States Parties (the governments that have agreed to uphold the norms and obligations required by the treaty), the Chemical Weapons Convention is the most widely subscribed disarmament treaty in history. Despite the aforementioned successes, the OPCW is not widely recognized outside disarmament-focused diplomatic circles. This is in spite of the fact that the science of chemistry played a critical role in informing the negotiations that lead to the signing of the Chemical Weapons Convention, and underpinning the articles of implementation. Science represents an important dimension in international disarmament policy and diplomacy, requiring that organizations like the OPCW interact with the scientific communities – especially in the field of chemistry. In order to achieve its goals in the future, the OPCW will need to reach out to new stakeholders and strengthen its ties with its existing partners. To this end, the OPCW has been placing increasing priority on education and engagement to raise awareness of its work and the contributions both from and to science in chemical disarmament. The objective of this internationally open access ConfChem online conference was to bring forth educational material that could usefully introduce chemistry educators and students to the nexus of science and multilateral diplomacy in chemical disarmament. To this end, we introduce the seven papers of the ConfChem and their authors. We hope you enjoy this collection of papers at the intersection of science and international disarmament policy. A collection that looks to stimulate interest in the role of scientists and educators, especially chemists in making the world a safer place.

Citizen science and international collaboration through environmental monitoring with simple chemical sensors

Abstract Building capacity for carrying out and understanding responsible science that is relevant to local challenges is a key ingredient in the OPCW’s strategy for achieving and maintaining a world free of chemical weapons. Two important contexts for building that capacity for responsible science are (1) the global attention being drawn to the rapidly increasing human chemical footprint on our planet and (2) the pervasive use of digital technologies. We describe an effort coordinated by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to build capacity among young people around the world to harness the power of small mobile chemical sensors to develop data literacy in complex chemical analysis based on measuring analytes that are relevant to their lives and local contexts. This new type of data literacy is an emergent element in educational programs and is key to developing the capacity for decision-making on chemical measurement data. The project brings together student and faculty collaborators from the fields of chemistry, social sciences and informatics, to provide proof of concept in four areas that support the overall goal of building a collective effort for scientific analysis; the development of low cost environmental sensors for air and water samples; the collection of representative test data sets on priority contaminants; the assessment and visualization of data; and education about the effect of priority pollutants on human and environmental health. We report on the project goals and preliminary steps taken to achieve them.