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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

                                 CERTIFICATION

I, Paul M. Montrone, certify that:

1.   I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Fisher Scientific
     International Inc.;

2.   Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of
     a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the
     statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
     were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this
     report;

3.   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
     information included in this report, fairly present in all material
     respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of
     the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.   The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for
     establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined
     in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over
     financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and
     15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

          (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
     disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
     ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its
     consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those
     entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being
     prepared;

          (b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused
     such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our
     supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of
     financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for
     external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting
     principles;

          (c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
     controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about
     the effectiveness of the disclosure controls, as of the end of the period
     covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

          (d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
     control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's most
     recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely
     to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial
     reporting; and

5.   The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on
     our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to
     the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's board of
     directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

          a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
     or operation of internal controls over financial reporting which are
     reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to record,
     process, summarize and report financial information; and

          b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
     other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal
     control over financial reporting.


Date: November 14, 2003                  By: /s/ Paul M. Montrone
                                            ----------------------------------
                                            Paul M. Montrone
                                            Chief Executive Officer
                                            Fisher Scientific International Inc.