Overcoming the hurdles of cannabis and hemp testing with PerkinElmer

With the market for cannabis and hemp products continuing to grow rapidly, labs increasingly need rapid access to best-in-class analytical solutions geared toward the unique requirements of the industry.

At the farm level, pesticides are often used in the cultivation of cannabis plants, helping to increase yields and protect plants from pests and diseases. Furthermore, the warm and damp growing conditions for cannabis plants can lead to the presence of carcinogenic mycotoxins including ochratoxin A and aflatoxins. Due to the potential health implications that pesticide and mycotoxin residues can pose on human health, governing and regulatory bodies have imposed many strict regulations to monitor their presence. To help the industry navigate the complex landscape of pesticide testing regulations, PerkinElmer offers the QSight Triple Quad highperformance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) system. This innovative solution provides laboratories with an intuitive tool to analyse 66 key pesticides and mycotoxins at incredibly low levels. (0.005 to 0.25µg/g).

Cannabis, like all agricultural produce, can also accumulate various trace metals from the environment around the plant. Of primary concern to cannabis producers are those heavy metals known to be toxic and harmful to human life when present at high concentrations, including cadmium, arsenic, lead and mercury. Testing for heavy metals in biological entities can be complex, with many steps required to prepare samples and extract elements.

PerkinElmer has designed the NexION ICP-MS and Titan MPS microwave system to provide an effective and reproducible method for analysing trace metals in cannabis and ensuring that products are safe to consume. The NexION includes a detailed standard operating procedure (SOP) that allows heavy metals to be quantified in cannabis laboratories.

In many ways, cannabis products are similar to other items that a customer may purchase or consume. These products must be rigorously tested to ensure that they’re safe and free from contamination. And, like other products in the medicinal and healthcare sector, they also need to be labelled with the correct potency to provide the right effects to consumers and patients. Historically, analytical methods for potency analysis have lacked robustness and reliability. To assist processors and thirdparty labs, PerkinElmer has designed the Flexar HPLC solution for the chromatographic separation of key cannabinoids in cannabis flower and several food matrices, using photodiode array (PDA) detection.

Understanding and navigating both the complex regulatory systems and the range of potential contaminants are the keys to success in the cannabis market. While this can be challenging for any processor, manufacturer or laboratory, PerkinElmer’s solutions are designed to help stakeholders overcome the potential hurdles of cannabis safety and quality analysis.

PerkinElmer’s NexION ICP-MS technology helps labs reliably monitor heavy metal contaminants

PerkinElmer’s QSight LC/MS/MS system in action

PERKIN ELMER

Tel: (011) 564 0600 Fax: (011) 564 0899 sonja.oosthuizen@perkinelmer.com www.perkinelmer.com