Page 12 - Sept NL 2016a
P. 12
Spotlights
AOAC and Industry to Set Voluntary
Consensus Standards for Cannabis
By Susan Audino, S.A. Audino and Associates, LLC
*reprinted from the May/June 2016 issue of AOAC Inside Laboratory Management
AOAC and industry are partnering Cannabis consumers range from tod- challenging, particularly when the
to develop Standard Method Per- dlers to the geriatric population as infused edibles are items such as
formance Requirements (SMPRs®) well as household pets. Cannabis can gummy bears. Common instrumen-
in an effort to find the best testing be used to treat a host of diseases, tation in cannabis testing laborato-
method(s) for cannabis. Analytical disorders, and illnesses. ries includes HPLC, NIR, UPLC, GC,
testing in the cannabis sector is PCR, and ELISA. There is growing
greatly suffering from a lack of stan- There is a wide variety of canna- interest in both the carboxylated and
dardization and appropriately vetted bis delivery systems from which to neutral cannabinoids. Interestingly,
methods that have been rigorously choose: smoking, vapor, tincture, there have been reports of analysts
evaluated. The result is diminished salves and creams, sublingual films, determining the concentrations of
consumer safety and insufficient transdermal patches, and, of course, acidic (carboxylated) cannabinoids
knowledge about a legally acquired infused edible products. from the neutral (decarboxylated)
and purchased commodity. chromatograms generated by GC.
The cannabis plant may be grown
“One of the biggest challenges fac- under “organic” conditions, outdoors, The most significant issue facing the
ing the cannabis industry is the lack indoors, or even hydroponically. This cannabis industry is the lack of con-
of consensus on standards and test is a huge business prompting all sorts sensus or standard test methods. Dif-
methods,” said AOAC Executive Di- of entrepreneurs for businesses-like ferent laboratories get different re-
rector, James Bradford. “AOAC can cultivation, dispensing, or even an- sults, leading to lack of confidence in
help by gathering stakeholders and alytical testing. There is no federal analytical results. The quality of test-
experts to work toward consensus in oversight of the cannabis industry ing is all too often questionable, at
setting standards and finding the best and possessing it remains a federal best. Where some laboratories have
method(s). AOAC will implement its crime. developed protocols of the highest sci-
working group strategy in which rel- entific integrity, others are less than
evant standards development activi- Some states have established re- adequate. Further hindering compe-
ties are supported by Organizational quirements for analytical testing, tent testing is the lack of accredited
Affiliates (OAs) and leverage existing and some have gone so far as to proficiency test (PT) programs. Due
AOAC stakeholder panels.” require testing laboratories to be to the federal prohibition of cannabis,
ISO/IEC 17025 accredited. Testing proficiency providers are not able to
Work on cannabis will be part of the laboratories are expected to evaluate, ship PT samples across state lines. At
AOAC Stakeholder Panel on Strate- for example, residual solvents, pesti- present, there is one Interlaboratory
gic Food Analytical Methods (SPS- cide residue, THC potency, relative Comparison (ILC) program provider
FAM) activities. concentrations of specific cannabi- offering a “potency test” that is com-
noids, mycotoxins, and microbial con- prised of a 5-part cannabinoid matrix
Regardless of personal opinion, can- taminants. in methanol between 10-1000 μg mL-
nabis use is widely sanctioned and is 1, and falls within federal guidelines
only growing in availability and use. Although the technology required for for interstate shipping. It is import-
Just as they do with other foods and cannabis is no different than what is ant to note that participating labora-
botanicals, consumers have a right to used for other botanical or agricul- tories may use whatever method(s)
know what they are getting and that tural products, sample matrix poses they have available to them. Alter-
it is safe from intentional or acciden- one of many significant issues. Sam- natively, intrastate laboratories are
tal adulteration. ple source and sample size represent beginning to collaborate and develop
additional challenges. For example, their own round robin-type of inter-
As of this writing, 24 states and the raw plant material may come from laboratory comparison studies to as-
District of Columbia have sanctioned bud, stem, leaf, or whole plant each certain technical ‘competence’ until
medical use of cannabis, and four of of which will yield different results.
these states also permit adult use. Extraction from edibles can be quite
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