Laboratory Best Practices

Articles

This tutorial article outlines the key considerations that must be put in place when setting up a cannabis extraction facility.

Cannabis Extraction Facility Setup 101

Patricia Atkins is a Senior Applications Scientist with SPEX CertiPrep and a member of both the AOAC and ASTM committees for cannabis.

Here we continue the discussion of energy and elements used in atomic spectroscopy by looking at one of the most commonly used analytical techniques in the elemental analytical laboratory—inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES).

Energy and Elements, Part II: A Closer Look at ICP

This article addresses the US Department of Agriculture’s hemp testing rules and what laboratories should know regarding hemp testing. The author provides a short tutorial for laboratories and includes a section how laboratory information management systems (LIMS) can help.

Delineating the Nuts and Bolts of the USDA’s Hemp Testing Rules

Brian C. Smith, PhD, is Founder, CEO, and Chief Technical Officer of Big Sur Scientific. He is the inventor of the BSS series of patented mid-infrared based cannabis analyzers. Dr. Smith has done pioneering research and published numerous peer-reviewed papers on the application of mid-infrared spectroscopy to cannabis analysis, and sits on the editorial board of Cannabis Science and Technology. He has worked as a laboratory director for a cannabis extractor, as an analytical chemist for Waters Associates and PerkinElmer, and as an analytical instrument salesperson. He has more than 30 years of experience in chemical analysis and has written three books on the subject. Dr. Smith earned his PhD on physical chemistry from Dartmouth College. Direct correspondence to: 

The final part in this series of pitfalls to avoid and practicalities covers the importance of cleanliness, how many standards to run, how to spot outliers, and important experimental variables to control.

Quantitative Spectroscopy Pitfalls and Practicalities, Part IV: The Finale

Dr. Anthony Macherone of Agilent Technologies discusses what he hopes to see change in the future regarding cannabis regulations and testing guidelines.

Dr. Anthony Macherone Calls for More Comprehensive Pesticide Testing for Safer Consumer Cannabis Products

The third part in this series of pitfalls to avoid and practicalities to know about discusses the importance of validating and checking your calibration to ensure quality.

Quantitative Spectroscopy Pitfalls and Practicalities, Part III:  Calibration Validation and Calibration Checks

Part II of this series discusses how to measure absorbances properly, and compares the use of peak heights and peak areas in creating calibrations.

Quantitative Spectroscopy: Practicalities and Pitfalls, Part II

Here we discuss the importance of using standards that bracket the expected concentration range of standards in the unknowns, using the same chemical components in standards and unknowns, and making sure to minimize the error in concentration measurements of standards.

Quantitative Spectroscopy: Practicalities and Pitfalls, Part I

Cannabis testing laboratories play an important role in ensuring consumer safety and quality throughout the industry. These laboratories face many challenges—from the variety of samples in the industry to changing regulations and testing requirements and everything in between. In this interview, Sarah Ahrens, Founder and CEO of True Labs for Cannabis LLC, explains her philosophy and approach behind building her cannabis analytical testing laboratory in New Jersey. She also covers current developments in the cannabis testing industry and what needs to be done to ensure it has a transparent and productive future that benefits producers and consumers alike.

A Focus on Safety, Integrity, and Innovation: One Cannabis Laboratory Strives to Exceed Standard Testing Practices and Client Relations

Part III discusses more on Beer’s Law and why absorptivity is important along with some of its advantages and limitations.