Ensure Consumer Safety with ACS Laboratory's Pesticide Testing
Cannabis pesticide testing at ACS Laboratory ensures flower and final products are free from unsafe levels of chemicals used during cultivation. Pesticides serve the vital purpose of protecting cannabis and hemp crops from insects, mites, and fungi destruction. And regulators allow their use. However, consumers can only inhale or ingest these chemicals above specific limits if they face health risks. Cannabis growers, processors, and brands must test plants and products early, often from pre-harvest through post-extraction, to ensure they are pure, compliant, and safe to consume.
This article explains the most common pesticides used in cultivation, the dangers of ingesting pesticides, and how cannabis pesticide testing with an accredited laboratory like ACS Laboratory maintains safety and quality across all product types.
What Are Pesticides?
A pesticide is any substance that can prevent, destroy, or repel pests harmful to plants, including insects, rodents, fungi, weeds, and other organisms and viruses. A pesticide can also be any substance used to regulate plant growth, such as leaf-removing and drying agents or chemicals used to kill weeds.
Pesticides are common and legal in farming and agriculture, and cannabis is no exception. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a long list of acceptable pesticide ingredients that it has determined are safe at low levels.
What Pesticides Are Most Common in Cannabis Cultivation?
The most common pesticide classes associated with cannabis cultivation are insecticides to control insects, acaricides to kill ticks and mites, and fungicides to avoid mold.
Additional pesticide classes include:
- Herbicides for weed control
- Agents for fighting mice and rats
- Various disinfectants and antimicrobials
Cannabis pesticide testing detects all major chemical classes in plants and end products.
Insecticides
Insecticide pesticides kill one or more insect species and may also kill their larvae and eggs. Work by targeting and disrupting vital biological processes in insects, such as their nervous system, growth, or feeding behavior, leading to their death or incapacitation.
They typically contain synthetic or natural chemicals like organophosphates (chemical substances that impede the nervous system in pests), pyrethroids (organic compounds similar to the natural pyrethrins found in some chrysanthemum flowers), and carbamates (which also affect the nervous system)
Active insecticide ingredients that cannabis pesticide testing can uncover include:
- Azadirachtin, the active ingredient in neem oil. This naturally occurring pesticide found in seeds of the neem tree is one of the most successful in agricultural use worldwide.
- Piperonyl butoxide (PBO), an artificial pesticide synergist. Growers often combine PBO with natural pyrethroids to increase their effectiveness.
- Chlorpyrifos, a broad-spectrum organophosphate insecticide that inhibits acetylcholinesterase, affecting the nervous system of insects.
- Acephate, an organophosphate insecticide used to control a wide range of pests by disrupting their nervous systems.
- Diazinon, another organophosphate insecticide that interferes with the normal functioning of the nervous system in insects.
Acaricides
Acaricides target and disrupt the biological processes of mites and ticks, often affecting their nervous system or growth, leading to their death or inability to reproduce. They typically contain active ingredients designed to control acarine pests.
Fungicides
Fungicides inhibit the growth and reproduction of fungi and fungal spores, disrupting critical cellular processes like membrane function, energy production, or DNA synthesis. They typically contain active ingredients that prevent fungal pathogens from damaging plant tissues, inhibiting photosynthesis and compromising overall plant health.
What Products Most Likely Contain Pesticides?
Flower is most likely to contain pesticides because it is directly exposed to them during cultivation. However, concentrates and extracts can also have significant pesticide residues since the extraction process can concentrate any pesticides present in the cannabis plant. This makes products like oils, waxes, and shatter particularly susceptible to higher pesticide residue levels if the source material is contaminated.
Dangers of Ingesting Pesticides
The EPA considers some pesticides safe to ingest at low levels. However, residual pesticides in cannabis products can potentially exceed these levels.
Additionally, even low pesticide levels, whether inhaled or ingested, can be dangerous with repeated exposure. Studies show that high levels of pesticides can transfer into cannabis smoke and be ingested or absorbed through the skin.
According to the EPA, the health effects of pesticides vary depending on the type. Most risks involve nervous system disruption, causing issues from nausea and loss of appetite to skin numbness, conversion, and cancer.
Organophosphates and carbamates, for example, are potentially neurotoxic to humans.
- Acephate can overstimulate nerves and the brain, causing nausea, dizziness, and confusion.
- Diazinon exposure, whether from ingestion, skin contact, or inhalation, can cause watery eyes, runny nose, drooling, loss of appetite, coughing, urination, diarrhea, stomach pain, and vomiting.
- Azadirachtin, a component of neem oil, can be very irritating to the skin and stomach.
- Synthetic piperonyl butoxide (PBO) has been linked to numerous human health dangers, including cancer, neurotoxicity, and liver disease, according to the Pesticides and You Journal.
Pyrethroids and pyrethrins
Pyrethroids and pyrethrins can also interfere with nerve and brain function, causing symptoms that range from skin numbness and convulsions to cancer, depending on the level of exposure, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry. Some pyrethroids, such as bifenthrin, are possible carcinogens that can also damage the hormone or endocrine system in the body.
Fungicides
Fungicides like boscalid and bixafen can disrupt mitochondria, which generate most of the chemical energy needed to power human cells. The parts of the body most affected are those that need the most energy, such as the heart, brain, muscles, and gastrointestinal tract. Even small exposures can cause symptoms ranging from fatigue and exercise intolerance to hearing loss, seizures, strokes, heart failure, diabetes, and kidney failure.
Herbicides
Herbicides, such as glyphosate, atrazine, and 2,4-D, can accumulate in human cell membranes and disrupt the body’s functioning system. Short-term exposure can negatively affect the liver, kidneys, blood, lungs, and the neurological, immunological, and digestive systems.
Why Cannabis Pesticide Testing Is Critical for Cannabis and Hemp Products
Cannabis pesticide testing on all product types, from flower to extract-based oils and edibles to topicals, is the only way to ensure consumer safety and compliance with regulations.
Pesticide testing for safety
The World Health Organization classifies many of the pesticides found in cannabis samples destined for consumption as moderately hazardous. However, even if growers apply pesticides in allowable amounts, the final product may contain more chemicals than intended.
That’s because cannabis is a bio-accumulator, meaning it is highly effective at absorbing and retaining chemicals and elements from its environment. This fact can make pesticides especially difficult to remove from the plant.
According to research by the University of Florida’s Agronomy Department, final cannabis products may test positive for pesticide residue due to unintended factors, such as:
- Crops may absorb pesticides that were previously applied.
- Growers may accidentally apply more than the recommended rate.
- Growers may accidentally apply a pesticide too close to the crop.
- A pesticide might drift onto cannabis crops from another site.
Pesticide testing for regulatory compliance
Many states have banned or severely limited the use of pesticides in cannabis cultivation.
For example, Florida, Oregon, Utah, and California regulate 60-plus pesticide compounds and require manufacturers to submit their products—including cannabis flowers, edibles, concentrates, and other consumables—to a state-licensed cannabis testing laboratory. Colorado regulates 102 pesticides. All products must be certified for compliance testing before being sold legally.
Some states apply additional restrictions, such as only allowing organic or certain non-toxic pesticides, which limits what growers can apply to their cannabis plants.
Other places, such as New Jersey and Maryland, prohibit all pesticide use on cannabis and require cannabis pesticide testing before cannabis products get to the dispensary.
Cannabis Pesticide Testing with ACS Laboratory
ACS Laboratory conducts cannabis pesticide testing on biomass, flower, extracts, and edibles for the most common chemicals, like piperonyl butoxide, chlorpyrifos and acephate, and diazinon. It tests 68 pesticides for Florida’s panel, 66 for Utah’s panel, and 102 for Utah.
Advanced techniques
ACS utilizes Gas Chromatography - Tandem Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) and Ultra High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LCMS). This equipment and technology offer the most sensitive and comprehensive pesticide screening, allowing brands to know what pesticide residues remain in their oil, extract, tincture, or flower.
Precision results
In 2022, ACS’s clinical-grade laboratory received the Emerald Test Award for Pesticide Screening for excellence in detecting precise levels of pesticide contaminants. ACS takes pride in exceeding industry standards.
The Bottom Line
Cannabis pesticide testing with a licensed third-party testing laboratory is vital for every reputable licensed grower, manufacturer, processor, and brand looking to prioritize consumer safety. Pesticides can be hazardous to human health, whether inhaled, ingested, or applied to the skin. Many states restrict pesticide use in cannabis cultivation due to adverse side effects on people and the environment. Therefore, ensuring they are not present in products or remain below their approved levels is critical.
Florida Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers looking to maintain safety and quality standards can contact ACS Laboratory to start cannabis testing their products today.
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