Managing Cannabis Contamination with Testing

Labs that test cannabis products can overcome the challenges posed by a growing number of contamination cases

FREMONT, CA: Increasingly, states are entering the legal cannabis market, but contamination outbreaks and recalls are growing. To ensure that cannabis testing laboratories are robust and effective, they must ensure that their methods and processes are robust and effective since contaminants can affect a product at any stage of the production process.

Cannabis contamination outbreaks are on the rise, and challenges for labs, potential solutions, and future trends in the industry.

Maintaining hygiene: As compared to recent years, outbreaks are occurring at a much higher rate. Almost every month, we see them, and the main reason for the increase is that more states are entering the legal cannabis market. Although cannabis contamination is no new problem, it becomes more evident as it becomes more openly handled and regulated. More states will likely follow this pattern as they come online; testing teams must be vigilant and make testing processes as efficient as possible. There is a greater risk of contamination at the tail end of the cultivation process, when the flowers are drying and being harvested, than at any other stage. However, taking care at all stages of the process is crucial. Monitoring every production stage reduces significant risk and allows you to trace where recurring hot zones occur and how they occur. A key component of continuous good manufacturing processes (cGMP) is the implementation of environmental monitoring programs, which are an early step to getting ahead of contaminants—or at least being sufficiently prepared for any that may surface—so they can be remedied quickly, effectively, and efficiently.

Disadvantages of growing: Growers' challenges in lab shopping remain a major concern. It is common practice for growers to shop their products between labs to find the best results, including pesticide testing and THC potency analyses. In addition to this unsettling issue, there are wildly different regulations across different states, which is also unsettling. Until the legal position of the cannabis industry, nationally and internationally, is uniform and reasonable, cannabis testing labs will have to deal with the significant challenge of lack of standardization. Furthermore, we should not allow the illicit market to operate behind the scenes, making many important testing and safety measures inaccessible to consumers, in addition to the challenges faced in the legal market.

Enforcing quality control: Seed-to-sale tracking systems require a robust enforcement mechanism. It is not feasible to maintain a system that allows a grower to send his product to one lab, then simply send it to another if he does not like the first answer, nor is it in the consumer's or patient's interest to do this. The testing labs can build a clearer, more accurate system that protects the health of consumers by mimicking federal testing regulations that are more standardized, like those in other large industries, such as food and pharmaceuticals.

Boosting product quality: Cannabis labs are still faced with state-by-state variations in regulations and standards. Regardless of state regulations, cannabis labs must follow the strictest policies and practices to produce consistently accurate results. To accomplish this, lab technicians need to have the right experience, be able to perform robust and validated tests and follow proper lab procedures. Testing labs for cannabis should be familiar with the entire testing landscape throughout the country - not just the state(s) where they operate. As state regulations become more standard across states, testing labs will play to their advantage by honing their methodologies and being selective in their equipment choices.