Comprehensive pesticide testing required to ensure safe cannabis and cannabinoid products
There are hundreds of manufactured pesticides that lead to very complex testing needs across the food and agricultural industries. However, only a small subset of the available pesticides has been regulated in the cannabis industry, and the target lists and action (not to exceed) levels vary from state to state and country to country. Another caveat to pesticide testing is that only the specific compounds defined in the tandem mass spectrometry method can be identified and quantified. Any pesticides not defined in the instrument method are excluded from the analysis. This reality opens the door for the use of non-regulated pesticides since their presence in a product is unlikely to be determined.
The fact that pesticides such as myclobutanil and cyhalothrin release cyanide upon pyrolysis highly supports the need for a more comprehensive approach to residual pesticide analysis. How comprehensive pesticide testing can be used to harmonize regulatory needs across regions will also be discussed.
Attendees will learn:
- The definition of comprehensive pesticide testing
- The differences between targeted and semi-targeted analyses
- The use and capabilities of time-of-flight mass spectrometry for pesticide analysis
- How harmonization of pesticide analysis may be achieved
Who should attend:
- Bench chemists
- Method development / R&D chemists
- Lab managers
- Lab directors
Presenter: Dr. Anthony Macherone (Senior Scientist, Agilent Technologies, Visiting Professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)
