Toxins are toxic chemicals produced by living organisms. These are considered as both chemical and biological weapons when used in violation of the Convention.

The development, production and stockpiling of toxins for purposes of warfare are prohibited under both the CWC and Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). Like the CWC, the BWC also requires States parties that possess toxin weapons to destroy them.

Toxins are covered by the CWC because they are chemicals that can have chemical weapons applications, and fall under the definitions listed above for chemical weapons and toxic chemicals.

Synthetic Toxins

It is possible to synthesis many types of toxins in laboratories without harvesting the organisms that produce them in nature. Moreover, a number of toxins are also synthetic dual-use chemicals, meaning that under the CWC they can be produced in the quantities required for legitimate activities.

There are two toxins explicitly listed in Schedule 1, these are ricin (produced in nature in the seeds of the castor bean plant) and saxitoxin (produced in nature by cyanobacteria).