From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov

Transcript for: Finding the Source of Chemical Weapons Using Forensic
Technologies 

Description: Despite an international ban on their use, chemical weapons
have been used over the past 10 years in assassinations and on civilian
populations. When a chemical weapon is used, investigators may use
forensic technologies to detect that it was used, identify the chemical,
and help attribute it to a likely source.

Challenges to such investigations include small or degraded samples.
These can result if investigators can't reach a site soon enough after
an attack, or if it takes a long time to get samples to a lab.

We present 6 policy options to help decision makers address this and
other challenges.

Related GAO Works: GAO-23-105439 - CHEMICAL WEAPONS: Status of Forensic
Technologies and Challenges to Source Attribution 

Released: September 2023

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The Chemical Weapons Convention banned the use of chemical weapons in
1997.  

It has since been signed by over 190 nations.  

But in the past decade, chemical weapons have been used on civilian
populations and in targeted assassinations.  

To find out more information after a chemical incident, such as who
might be responsible, investigators can use forensic technologies to
help trace chemical weapons back to a likely source.   

For example, gas chromatography was used to help identify the use of a
nerve agent, Sarin, in Syria.    

Challenges to the use of forensic technologies sometimes include poor
sample quality and limited coordination among labs to develop and refine
these technologies.   

We identified several policy options that may help address the
challenges.  

Find out more, at GAO.gov

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For more info, check out our report GAO-23-105439 at: GAO.gov