Having access to safe and nutritious food is essential. Meat, fish, dairy products, eggs, shellfish, etc., contain significant microbial flora and this can affect our health. Therefore, it is important to identify the microorganisms to maintain food safety but the microbial flora can also affect, if not controlled, the quality of food and its shelf [Read More...]
Emerald Scientific recently announced results for their latest round of the semi-annual Inter-Laboratory Comparison and Proficiency Test (ILC/PT), and the outcomes may bode well for one of the most vital quality and safety aspects of the cannabis industry. According to Cynthia Ludwig, director of technical services at theAmerican Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS), there are no [Read More...]
On The Cannabist Show: A discussion about cannabis testing labs and their results for THC potency and other cannabinoids in an array of products, from dried flower to edibles and concentrates. Why are there variances in different labs’ results? EdiPure chief science officer Malcolm Morrison and Nordic Analytical Laboratories lab director Joseph Evans answer questions [Read More...]
A HELPING HAND: To identify and cultivate bacteria whose growth depends on a soluble growth factor, Lewis plated bacteria from sand grains on agar (A) and isolated and streaked candidate pairs (B). The growth of KLE1104 (green) depends on KLE1011 (white), as its colonies get smaller the farther away they are from the helper [Read More...]
Total organic carbon (TOC) is a rapid method that analyzes for organic carbon and expresses the result as the amount of carbon found. It is a nonspecific method unable to distinguish between various organic species and indicates only that organic carbon compounds are present. TOC analyzers operate by determining the amount of total carbon in a [Read More...]
Measuring the concentration of aqueous solutions containing one component can be easy. There are numerous techniques that accomplish this goal, such as density measurement or titration. Aqueous solutions that contain two dissolved components, however, present entirely different challenges. With two compounds in solution, one compound can easily influence the measurement of the other, leading to [Read More...]
As a mass spectrometrist who has migrated into the realm of clinical chemistry, I frequently tell my clinical chemistry colleagues that mass spectrometrists want to take over the world. Although an exaggeration, this statement is seldom challenged, probably in recognition of the many positive ways that mass spectrometry already has influenced the clinical laboratory and [Read More...]
The American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) and Americans for Safe Access (ASA)announced yesterday a collaboration to develop a cannabis-specific laboratory accreditation program based upon the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025 and ASA’ s Patient Focused Certification (PFC) Program. Accreditationunder this program will offer the highest level of recognition and provide the most value to the [Read More...]
In states where cannabis is legalized, some analytical laboratories are tasked with identifying and quantifying pesticide content in plant material. This is a relatively new concept in the study of cannabis as most forensic laboratories that work with seized plant material are only concerned with positively identifying the sample as cannabis. Laboratories of this nature, often [Read More...]
Study finds that GC-MS changes or destroys sample compounds DEGRADING EXPERIENCE LC-MS peaks from analyses of a small-molecule sample maintained at room temperature (bottom) and heated for five minutes at 250 °C (top) differ considerably. If you’ve used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to analyze unknown compounds from cells and biological tissue, a new [Read More...]
