Regulating Heavy Metals in Cannabis Consumer Products: What Can We Learn from the Pharma Industry?

Tags: vaping, safety, heavy metals, cannabis testing, regulations

Robert Thomas presents “Regulating Heavy Metals in Cannabis Consumer Products: What Can We Learn from the Pharmaceutical Industry?” at CannMed 2022.

The lack of federal oversight with regard to cannabis consumer products in the US has meant that it has been left to the individual states to regulate its use. Cannabis for medical purposes is legal in 38 states, while 18 of them allow its use for adult recreational consumption. The sale of these products is strictly regulated by their THC and CBD content, depending on their use.

However, it’s also critical to monitor levels of contaminants such as heavy metals, as the cannabis plant is known to be a hyper-accumulator of heavy metals in the soil and grow medium. Unfortunately, there are many inconsistencies with heavy metal limits in different states where medical cannabis is legal. Some states define the “big four” heavy metals, Pb, Cd As and Hg while others specify more. Some are based on limits directly in cannabis, while others are based on consumption per day. Others take into consideration the body weight of the consumer, while some states do not even have heavy metal limits. So clearly there is a need for consistency across state lines, in order that consumers know they are using products which are safe to use.

This presentation takes a closer look at how the pharmaceutical industry replaced its 100-year-old colorimetric test for a small group of heavy metals with plasma spectrochemical techniques. Moreover, it expanded that panel to cover 24 elemental impurities categorized by a risk analysis study that identified sources of potential impurities in the drug product manufacturing process. The cannabis industry can learn a great deal from this process to not only understand the many potential sources of heavy metals from cultivation of the plant but also how the final cannabis products can be contaminated by the extraction/purification process, manufacturing equipment, storage containers and the delivery systems used.

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