Laboratory CH IHTM has been accredited according to the ISO 17025 standard since 2004, which provides a quality system and staff expertise. The laboratory is accredited by the Accreditation Body of Serbia under number 01-105 and meets the requirements of the standard SRPS ISO/IEC 172025:2017.

Laboratorija CH IHTM izvodi različita hemijska ispitivanja organskih i neorganskih jedinjenja:

The CH IHTM laboratory is one of the best-equipped laboratories of its kind in the country. In addition to standard instrumental equipment (UV/Vis spectrophotometer, gas and liquid chromatographs, FTIR spectrometer, mass spectrometer), the laboratory has two NMR spectrometers for performing sophisticated experiments, as well as a laboratory for elemental analysis. By combining the methods of mass, NMR and FTIR spectroscopy, gas and liquid chromatography, and microanalysis, it is possible to determine the structures of almost all organic molecules and biomolecules, analyze air, water and soil pollutants, alcoholic beverages, herbs, essential oils, fats, various drugs, dyes, plastics, etc.

The CH IHTM laboratory participates in the organization and performance of graduate, master's, and doctoral theses in applied spectroscopy and chromatography such as metabolomics, the chemistry of natural products, and forensics.

The accredited laboratory offers expert advice and services to scientific institutions, industry, and individuals.

As part of its special activities, the CH IHTM laboratory applies accredited testing methods which are used for:

• Identification of the structure of an unknown compound
• Testing the chemical composition of materials of different origins
• Identification of impurities in drugs
• Identification of pure substances or mixtures for registration with the European Chemicals Agency (REACH)
• Identification of narcotics and hazardous chemicals
• Analysis of chemical weapons
• Chemical characterization of polymeric materials
• Identification of illicit substances in dietary supplements
• Determination of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulfur (and oxygen) in various materials
• Determination of the chemical composition of petroleum products
• Identification of heparin sodium using ¹H NMR spectroscopy (analytical procedure according to the European Pharmacopoeia)
• Identification of kleptose using ¹H NMR spectroscopy (analytical procedure according to the European Pharmacopoeia)
• Identification of polidocanol using ¹³C NMR spectroscopy (analytical procedure according to the European Pharmacopoeia)
• Analysis of the chemical composition of alcoholic beverages
• Determination of paint and varnish composition
• Determination of antioxidant potential in different products
• Determination of beeswax purity
• Determination of the qualitative and quantitative composition of fats and oils
• Determination of the qualitative and quantitative composition of essential oils
• Identification of the chemical composition of stones from the urinary tract

Detection of fraud in dietary supplements

In products sold as dietary supplements, which are claimed to contain exclusively plant extracts and to serve to improve the sexual performance of men and women, the analysis of spectroscopic (NMR) and spectrometric (MS) data revealed the presence of sildenafil (trade name Viagra, Revatio), tadalafil (trade name Cialis), vardenafil (trade name Levitra), thiosildenafil - derivatives of sildenafil, and in some cases a mixture of some of these compounds. Furthermore, the antidepressants Fluoxetine and Sibutramine, an appetite suppressant that has been discontinued in many countries for causing heart problems, have been found in our Laboratory in several dietary supplements declared as "natural."

When consumed as herbal "natural" preparations that consumers generally consider not harmful, such counterfeit products can cause serious health problems.

Drug precursors - acetic anhydride

Based on the request of the Ministry of Health, an analysis of the liquid taken from the tank kept at the border crossing was performed. The contents of the tank are declared as "anhydrous acetic acid." Proton NMR and IR spectra of the tank sample were recorded, as well as acetic acid spectra. Based on them, it was unequivocally determined that the tank contained acetic anhydride and not acetic acid as declared. Therefore, it was an attempt to illegally import acetic anhydride, the circulation of which is strictly controlled, as it is used to produce heroin (acetylation of morphine) and benzyl methyl ketone, the starting components for (Leuckart's) amphetamine synthesis.

Illegal production of amphetamines

About 100 samples collected by the police in the plant of the company "Lenal Farm," on suspicion of illegal production of illegal chemical substances, were forwarded to our Laboratory through the Drug Agency. They were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance.

Based on these spectra, it was unequivocally proven that amphetamine production was performed at that place. Amphetamine and its N-methyl derivative belong to drugs that stimulate the central nervous system. They cause many side effects, increase blood pressure, and due to prolonged use, violent destructive behavior and acute psychosis, similar to paranoid schizophrenia, occur.

Fake antitetanus vaccine

A request was received to analyze the imported antitetanus vaccine Tetaglobuline (allegedly produced at the Pasteur Mérrieux Connaught Institute). Proton NMR spectra of lyophilized vaccine and Tetagam P antitetanus vaccine (produced by ZLB Behring) purchased at a nearby pharmacy were recorded. There is a big difference between their spectra, where the spectrum of the purchased vaccine corresponds to the spectrum of the protein that should be in the correct antitetanus vaccine, while the spectrum of the suspicious sample unequivocally indicates gentamicin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic whose price is ten times lower than the real antitetanus vaccine, and does not act against the tetanus pathogen Clostridium tetani. Therefore, the conclusion is that the so-called Tetaglobuline is a fake vaccine.

Proficiency test under the auspices of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

The successful results of Proficiency tests in which the Laboratory for Instrumental Analysis participated, carried out under the auspices of the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the latter cooperating with United Nations, located in The Hague, the Netherlands, demonstrated the high competence of the Laboratory (according to world criteria). This rather difficult and complicated test is organized to find in the participating countries' laboratories (so-called designated laboratories) competent to reliably analyze toxic substances, able to react promptly in case of a possible accident, i.e., application of chemical weapons.

Since 2008 our Laboratory has taken part, as the only one from this region, with considerable success in the Proficiency tests, organized by OPCW twice a year. In the course of four tests, involving the identification of unknown constituents in very diluted samples containing: toxic substances used as chemical weapons, their degradation products, their precursors, and byproducts in their synthesis, all present compounds have been identified (mainly nervous poisons: alkyl phosphonate esters, mustard gases: organosulphur and organoarsenic compounds).

In the test carried out in 2014, involving 16 participating laboratories from all over the world, in addition to laboratories from the USA, Switzerland, and Romania, our Laboratory was rated the highest mark – "A."

For Serbia, as a signatory of the Convention and a member of the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, this was a considerable success, taking into account that in this testing usually participate laboratories from big economically developed countries such as the USA, Russian Federation, China, France, Netherland, and Great Britain.