Identification of a Cannabis Extract Adulterant Using PDA Analysis

Description:
Within a short period of time, two customers submitted samples of cannabis extracts to the same cannabis compliance testing laboratory for voluntary analysis. Both relayed the concern that they had consumed a dangerous tainted product based on their physical experiences after smoking the products. Both reported that smoking the concentrate left a white residue on their lips and made them feel sick. Searching for the culprit led to HPLC analyses of unintentional adulterants, such as neem oil, cannabinoid isomer byproducts, and other newly-discovered cannabinoids, such as THCo, as potential candidates. Eventually, the search ended after reading a concentrator’s blog regarding the use of pine sap addition to concentrates. Like vitamin E acetate, pine resin can be used as a diluent and thickening agent for cannabis extract oils. Like vitamin E acetate, pine resin is an inexpensive and very accessible adulterant that causes lung injury. But, unlike vitamin E acetate, pine resin can be misidentified as THC itself. Other cannabis chemists doing safety testing need to be informed about the use of pine resin and how to identify it using PDA analysis because of the significant motivation for disreputable producers to use pine resin as an adulterant and the danger it poses to consumers.

Speaker: Jessica Alexander - Land & Seas Laboratory
Jessica Alexander is the owner and laboratory director of Land & Seas Laboratory, an all-inclusive agricultural laboratory in Alaska that performs food safety, hemp/cannabis compliance, and veterinary diagnostic testing for livestock. Jessica enjoyed a career as an emergency medicine and addiction medicine physician assistant before entering the world of laboratory testing as a clinical laboratory director. In addition to clinical medicine, Jessica has a BS in chemistry and an MS in clinical research management focused on the molecular cell biology and genetics of drug development. This dual background naturally led to special interests in testing for the inherent content and effects of drugs, as well as identifying adulterants and pathogens in consumable agricultural goods.