China Doping Control Center (CDCC) has selected Thermo Scientific instruments and software for its sports testing programme at the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing
The CDCC has been accredited by the Chinese government and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to conduct all doping control analyses during the 2008 Olympic Games.
Identifying illegal performance-enhancing substances that are used in sports competition is a growing global challenge, one made more difficult by the development of ever more sophisticated drugs that are increasingly difficult to detect.
The analytical systems Thermo Fisher has supplied to CDCC are said to be ideally suited for this challenge, providing the high specificity, low limits of detection, high throughput and reliability required in today's sports testing environment.
Thermo Fisher provided the CDCC with a range of high precision and performance Thermo Scientific instrumentation, including two DFS sector field GC/MS systems, a Delta V isotope ratio mass spectrometer and four triple-quadrupole TSQ Quantum Access LC/MS systems.
These instruments and associated software will enable the CDCC to cope with the high volume of samples expected at the 2008 Olympic Games.
Thermo Fisher has also agreed to provide 24/7 technical and application assistance to the CDCC to ensure uninterrupted operation and successful, secure handing of athlete samples throughout the games.
The CDCC sports doping testing programme will start even before the opening of the competition, and continue from athletes' check-in at the Olympic Village until the end of the games.
All samples will be analysed strictly in accordance with the IOC anti-doping rules for banned substances.
With many thousands of samples to run and a long list of banned substances to potentially identify, the CDCC placed a high priority on acquiring automated systems that provide high accuracy, sensitivity and throughput.
"We are greatly honoured to have the opportunity to participate in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games," noted Lew Rosenblum, president of Thermo Fisher Scientific China.
"Support for the Olympics embodies our corporate commitment to make the world cleaner, safer and healthier.
"We have great confidence that with the CDCC's analytical expertise and Thermo Scientific instrument, software and consumables solutions, the doping control testing programme for this year's Olympics will be successful."
