The cannabis industry has quickly evolved over the last decade or so, with cannabis use increasing for both medical patients and recreational users across the country. However, the world of cannabis testing is also quickly evolving to keep pace with new products, changing regulations, and consumer demand with the aim of maintaining and improving consumer safety.
For example, the science surrounding testing hemp and cannabis for mycotoxins has seen many developments in recent years. To learn more about mycotoxins in hemp and cannabis, A2LA reached out to Kyle Boyar of KB Consultations, and asked him what cannabis testing laboratories need to know. Kyle is a cannabis scientist and consultant with a background in neuroscience, microbiology, and analytical chemistry, and is the Chair of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Cannabis Chemistry Subdivision. He has spoken at leading cannabis conferences, including Emerald Conference, MJ Unpacked, CannMed, Cannabis Science Conference, and the Institute of Cannabis Research, and he has also been a guest lecturer at various educational institutions including UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz, UC Irvine, New York University, and the University of Minnesota.
“Mycotoxins are certainly a hot topic right now in the cannabis testing industry,” said Kyle. “It’s still an emerging area of research.”
What Are Mycotoxins?
So, what are mycotoxins anyway?
“Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites that are produced by a variety of different fungi, such as Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Fusarium,” said Kyle, “and they can be really harmful at very low levels.”
Mycotoxins have a variety of harmful effects and can be carcinogenic, nephrotoxic, neurotoxic, hepatoxic, affecting kidneys, the liver, the brain, and more. They can cause harm to recreational users and have the potential to pose an even greater risk for medical patients and those who are immunocompromised. For example, citrinin and paxilline, two types of Penicillium derived mycotoxins, are of special concern for those who use cannabis for epilepsy, as they can alter ion channel function and hence the effectiveness of epilepsy medications, potentially causing a worsening of symptoms and seizures. While we know that the genes to produce these compounds have been detected in cannabis flower samples found in dispensaries, it is still unclear if these compounds are produced in appreciable quantities.
Mycotoxin Testing Practices
While our food is already tested for harmful mycotoxins, there are many differences between the manufacturing processes and consumption methods of food and cannabis use, with potentially very different health risks.
Because mycotoxin testing practices in the cannabis industry were originally adopted from the food testing industry, laboratories assumed the same acceptable limits as well—a range from 2 to 4 parts per million (ppm) as determined by the FDA. However, while eating or ingesting food with less than 4 ppm of mycotoxins may not harm an individual, smoking them at the same threshold or even lower can cause much more damage.
“These mycotoxins are heat stable, so that means even when they are smoked or vaped, they go directly to the blood stream,” Kyle adds. “Being heat stable also means that when a contaminated plant is extracted, the mycotoxins may also be inadvertently concentrated into whatever product is being manufactured.”
It’s not always obvious whether a plant is contaminated with mycotoxins, and some molds aren’t always visible. For example, Fusarium spp. infects cannabis plants from the inside out and travels through the vascular system, so while there may not be visible mold growth externally, it may be present internally. The best way to detect different kinds of mycotoxins in hemp and cannabis plants is to test for them in the lab.
Currently, hemp and cannabis testing laboratories typically test for five mycotoxins: aflatoxin B1/B2 and G1/G2, and Ochratoxin A. The practice of testing hemp and cannabis for these five mycotoxins was also adopted from the food testing industry, as these five can be found in food.
But how often are these five compounds found in cannabis products?
“The answer is, not that often at all,” says Kyle, “State test data showed that for flower, we see about a .01% failure rate and for concentrates, a .02% failure rate, testing for a threshold of 20 parts per billion. But there are other mycotoxins that studies suggest are far more prevalent and may have more cause for concern, like the Fusarium-derived mycotoxins, which are often found at much higher levels.”
Fusarium is a soilborne pathogen that infects the plant under the surface of the soil and travels internally through the vascular system, making it difficult to visually detect. Some species produce deoxynivalenol, commonly known as vomitoxin, and zearalenone, an endocrine disruptor.
As research continues, the industry is beginning to gain a better understanding of which mycotoxins hemp and cannabis should be tested for, and labs are developing methods to test for them in cannabis matrices. However, due to a lack of federal testing regulations, cannabis consumers remain at risk to harmful mycotoxins, often unknowingly.
Improving Cannabis Consumer Protections
To strengthen the quality of hemp and cannabis products and improve consumer safety, laboratories should expand their test methods to include additional mycotoxins such as those from Fusarium spp.
“I think the right tool for the job would be liquid chromatography system and a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS),” said Kyle. “Add those analytes to the list of things you’re already testing for, like pesticides, and then make sure you validate for them and add them to your scope of accreditation.”
Continued mycotoxin research is critical to improving the safety of cannabis consumers, and as the science continues to develop, laboratories can do their part to increase quality. They can choose to work with organizations like A2LA and the National Industrial Hemp Council of America (NIHC) that are advocating for globally accepted, industry-wide standards.
A2LA and NIHC have partnered to offer hemp testing laboratories the NIHC Verify program, a joint recognition accreditation program to hemp testing laboratories in the United States. This new program is recognized by the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), helping to move the industry forward towards consistent laboratory testing practices thereby ensuring consumer safety.
Laboratory accreditation is an indicator of the quality and competence of an organization, based on international standards, and is the most appropriate way to ensure an organization’s competence in performing a specified task. Through accreditation, customers, clients, and stakeholders gain confidence and assurance in the validity of test results.
For more information about A2LA’s hemp and cannabis testing accreditation program, visit A2LA.org/accreditation/cannabis-testing/. For more information on how to become an NIHC Verify member, visit nihc-verify.org.