Laboratory Best Practices

Articles

A panel of individuals from standards-setting organizations and accreditation bodies reviewed the role they each play within the cannabis sector and offered insights into the future of the industry to close out the analytical science track at Cannabis Science Conference Fall on Friday, September 22nd. 

Cannabis Science Conference Fall: Closing Panel Discussion Highlights Standards and Accreditation

As the industry continues to scale, more cannabis plants are being cultivated and processed than ever before to meet corresponding product demand, which in turn highlights the paramount role that GxP plays in ensuring the quality, safety, and efficacy of cannabis products.

The Crucial Role of GxP in the Cannabis Industry: Ensuring Quality, Safety, and Efficacy

Canna Boot Camp Spring 2023 was held at ChemHistory, a premier quality control testing laboratory in Milwaukie, Oregon. In this onsite interview, we speak with Business Director Alex Hoggan.

Canna Boot Camp Spring 2023 with Alex Hoggan

In April 2023, two cannabis testing laboratories launched a certification program to promote higher standards for cannabis testing laboratories across the country.

New National Standards for Cannabis Testing Just Launched: Trust in Testing

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.