Building consumer confidence - how to evaluate integrity and performance of cannabis testing laboratories and their data

With a majority of states now permitting the sale and use of medical or recreational cannabis, we have witnessed the birth of a new analytical industry tasked with ensuring the public health safety of the products ingested by patients and consumers. Laboratory testing is vital to protecting public health and maintaining consumer confidence in cannabis products, yet despite regulatory efforts, a lack of transparency and accountability remains a common theme in labs conducting state compliance testing.

Even in the midst of the current need for greater oversight, there are objective criteria that can be utilized to distinguish laboratories whose practices are sound, from those that are operating subpar to commonly accepted best practices. By scrutinizing product Certificates of Analysis (CoAs) issued by cannabis testing labs, we can gain crucial insight regarding scientific acumen required to produce accurate and defensible data.

Laboratories performing testing for cannabinoid and terpene content, heavy metals, residual solvents, pesticides, mycotoxins, and other contaminants or impurities must establish Limits of Detection (LODs) and Quantitation (LOQs). In general, those values are listed on CoAs alongside the product results. Careful review of the laboratory-derived LODs and LOQs reveals specific information about each lab’s methodology and the capabilities of their instrumentation. Furthermore, review of reported uncertainty values on CoAs sheds light on the accuracy and precision that can be expected from the laboratory. In addition, laboratories committed to transparency typically list the instrumentation used to conduct each analysis, an element of CoAs in conformance with ISO 17025. In this presentation, we will give examples of real-world cannabis testing laboratory CoAs and address the features which serve as indicators of laboratory proficiency and competence. We will also cover other best-practice benchmarks, such as proof of laboratory internal auditing, proficiency testing, and vendor qualification, which can be helpful when evaluating lab aptitude.