Chromatographic analysis of chemical compounds related to the Chemical Weapons Convention

The trends we noticed are: (i) the lowering the limit detection of chromatographic techniques of analysis, (ii) simplifying the whole procedure and process of analysis, (iii) increased reliability, and (iv) reducing the duration of the whole analysis. More and more attention is paid to the analysis of biological samples with the purpose of identification and quantitation of CWA (mainly nerve agents - sarin, VX - and blister agents - sulfur mustard) as well as their metabolites in blood, serum, plasma and other matrices. A great challenge is the analysis of decontamination products of CWA and hazard residues after decontamination. Finally we discuss recent achievements and gaps in development of sample preparation, implementation of new detectors, derivatization and trace analysis of CWA metabolites in environmental and biological samples.