Treaty Verification Sample Analysis Program Analytical Results: UNSCOM 65 Samples

摘要

Nineteen samples from the United Nations Special Commission 65 on Iraq (UNSCOM65) were analyzed for chemical warfare (CW) related compounds using a variety of highly sophisticated spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques. The samples consisted of six water, six soil, two vegetation, one cloth, one wood, and two mortar shell crosscut sections. No sulfur or nitrogen mustards, Lewsite, or any of their degradation products were detected. No nerve agents were observed, and no tin was detected precluding the presence of stannic chloride, a component of NC, a World War I choking agent. Diethyl phosphoric acid was unambiguously identified in three water samples, and ethyl phosphoric acid was tentatively identified, at very low levels, in one water sample. These phosphoric acids are degradation products of Amiton, many commercially available pesticides, as well as Tabun, and impurities in munitions-grade Tabun. No definitive conclusions concerning the source of these two chemicals could be drawn from the analytical results.