[ 11 guides ]

Cannabis testing guides

Technical guides to cannabis laboratory testing — potency, pesticides, heavy metals, mycotoxins, method validation, ISO 17025 accreditation and lab economics.

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How to become a Cannabis Lab Technician?

When you begin to explore how to become a cannabis lab technician, you start to quickly learn that the job entails much more than just testing THC levels. The cannabis industry is thriving and slowly gaining acceptance and approval across various nations. As the industry grows, a number of specialty jobs within the industry begin to unravel, that many qualified professionals may have not considered in the past. The cannabis lab technician roles are one of those specialty types of jobs.

Asrinus Subha · October 5, 2022 · 9 min read

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11 guides · newest first

01
Cannabis Testing Lab Certification: How to Prepare Cannabis Testing Labs for ISO 17025 Audits
In 1973 Oregon was the first U.S. member state that decriminalized cannabis. California, in 1996 became the first state to legalize the medical use of cannabis. In 2012 Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize the recreational use of cannabis. As of 2019, thirty-three states, four of the permanently inhabited U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia have legalized medical cannabis. Globally, cannabis is legalized in forty-four countries, with four countries legalizing recreational use of cannabis.
July 26, 2022 · 21 min read
02
Cannabis Terpene Testing - The Simple Explanation
There have been over 100 different terpenes discovered so far and it seems every strain has a unique composition of them. Terpenes are produced inside structures called glandular trichomes, which also produce cannabinoids. These compounds are found in almost every plant and are responsible for the pleasant aromas that can be found in cannabis. The different terpene compositions in each strain are what give unique flavors, aromas, and colors to the cannabis plant. Environmental conditions such as the climate, fertilizer used, soil type, and the age of the plant can play a huge role in terpene development. For example, prior to aging, terpenes are mostly found in high concentrations in unfertilized female plants.
July 13, 2022 · 4 min read
03
How much does cannabis testing cost per sample?
Cannabis testing cost per sample is about $322 at large labs and $750 at small ones. What edibles and potency testing cost, and why the price swings.
July 6, 2022 · 9 min read
04
An Introduction to Cannabis Compliance Testing
There is an increased demand for quality of Cannabis testing as the legalization of Cannabis storms through most to all of the United States and Canada. Unfortunately, as the rise in popularity of cannabis products continues over the years, the regulatory landscape has become substantially more difficult to navigate in the US.
June 21, 2022 · 8 min read
05
Why is Testing for Mycotoxins in Cannabis Critical (and 7 ways you can reduce it)?
Literally, “mycotoxin” means “fungus poisons”. Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites (a.k.a. by-products) produced during certain fungi and mold replication. These specific fungi or molds often colonize grains and forage, and unfortunately cannabis for reasons that will be discussed below. Mycotoxins contaminants have been around for a while and is not a new topic. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set a threshold of 0.02 micrograms per gram (20 ppb) for any products that are consumables for both animals and humans. Many studies have shown that mycotoxins can cause many types of illnesses in both animals and humans. Unfortunately, these compounds can be ridiculously stable for a long time and can sometimes even survive intense food processing. This being said, mycotoxins are heavily regulated in the food industry because of the potential toxicity, if and when consumed. So now…this directs us to the question on what and how the Cannabis industry is controlling this toxin?
June 21, 2022 · 11 min read
06
Maximizing the Quality and Safety of Your Cannabis: A Guide to Pesticide Testing
Similar to other plants, cannabis plants are prone to diseases, pests, fungi, and bacterial infections. In order to maximize the cultivation yield of cannabis, today cannabis growers are using many techniques to repel and/or kill unwanted pests, which normally involve the application of different pesticides.
January 6, 2022 · 12 min read
07
Cannabis Lab 101: Validation
When it comes to analytical testing — validation is key. In order to be a licensed and accredited testing facility, a laboratory needs to fully validate all methodologies that will be used to quantify and report any value to the public. From Cannabis testing labs to Pharmaceutical facilities, validation of methods is a critical component that must be performed, maintained, amended, and inspected routinely.
August 3, 2020 · 10 min read
08
Cannabis Lab 101: Cannabinoid Separation Methods in the Public Domain -Everything you need to know
The world of cannabis science is often shrouded in mystery and unlike other scientific industries where knowledge is shared — knowledge in the cannabis testing industry is protected — not shared. Well, I am here to help inform aspiring scientists around the world of this one fact — everything you need to know to set up and run a cannabinoids separation method for potency determination is within the public domain!
July 29, 2020 · 6 min read
09
Cannabis Lab 101: Technical Overview of Potency Determinization
Over in the Potency department, it is the cannabis chemist's job to accurately determine the cannabinoid profile of any sample that enters the laboratory. Let’s break down how cannabis laboratories do this from beginning to end to help you understand the process
July 27, 2020 · 9 min read
10
Why Heavy Metals Testing in Cannabis is Important
With the rapid growth in the production of inhalable cannabis products, many questions have been raised about the safety of acute and chronic exposure to aerosol mixtures of this kind. Heavy metals are chemical elements that are characterized by low biodegradability and by bioaccumulation in the human body can directly impact public health and wellness, particularly in the immunocompromised and pediatric patients, and these contaminants are needed to be minimalized in cannabis and cannabis-based products intended for human consumption.
June 19, 2020 · 23 min read