Why are Schedule 1 chemicals given the strictest controls under the Chemical Weapons Convention?

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American soldiers in World War I uniforms, some wearing gas masks, advance with rifles during a simulated gas attack exercise on a rocky battlefield. — chemical weapon American soldiers participating in a simulated gas attack exercise, World War I.

Under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), chemicals are categorized into three schedules based on their risk and utility. Schedule 1 chemicals are subject to the strictest controls because they are considered to pose a high risk to the treaty's goals of total chemical weapons disarmament.1

These substances include precursor chemicals specifically used to produce nerve agents or mustard agents. Because these chemicals have little to no use for purposes not prohibited under the CWC, they are monitored with the highest level of scrutiny. Facilities that have produced or are suspected of storing Schedule 1 agents are subject to the most rigorous Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) inspection procedures to ensure compliance and prevent the development or stockpiling of prohibited weapons.1