Lab Testing of BHO?
- Thread starter darkrom
- Start date
Well, I've seen a couple of different dispensaries who make the claim that their oils are laboratory tested. But honestly, I have my doubts that they really do that. There is no generally accepted process for testing cannabis oils so any lab that claims they do this testing can do it however they please without worry of malpractice; and that means that the metrics that they get out of it won't really have any defined meaning until there is one.
Puffers
Micro-Climate Mastermind
Of course there is no reason to test for butane in CA cause oil made with chemical solvents like butane is illegal and all oils sold in dispensaries are manufactured sans butane
Fully Melted
It's OK to enjoy your medicine.
No one I know of tests for residuals. Basically you can claim anything you want for something from a dispensary.
There are NO (zero, zilch, none) consumer regulations, laws or protections. You are a lab rat. Not a patient.
And the con artist cannabis testing being done currently is a cruel joke on patients designed to con you.
You are 100% on your own, just like a back alley buy. Do you remember the meat packing industry of the 1930's? Welcome to the Greens packing industry of the 10's.
The collective I belong to has it's own LC and GC for testing, with appropriate calibration standards. You would be surprised how much ours varies from the "major" labs (frackin facepalm). People actually buy products by how much THC-A is in them, when THC-A isn't useable by your body! "Testing" is just bragging rights for dispensaries. It allows them to sell more.
Most people haven't a clue as to why a THC-A level doesn't mean much to your body that takes in THC and not THC-A and converts it to 11-hydroxy-THC that you body actually can use.. But it doe$ mean profit$ when they are bagging up your 94% THC-A Uber wax. (it's only a 47% THC concentrate when fully decarbed!) We have checked many samples tested by the well known labs only to find MAJOR discrepancies in EVERY sample.
But to be honest butane is the very last thing I would worry about being in my hash. I'd worry about nerve poisons like insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and non approved "plant enhancers and growth regulators" that are already considered too dangerous for FOOD but are used on your MEDICINE daily...
Besides butane residue isn't really harmful. You inhale 1000x the amount of unburnt hydrocarbons daily, just from sources around you. It's the contaminants and lubricating oils in canned butane that are unhealthy, not the gas itself. If you are hunting down what is hazardous, look at what your weed was fed on and sprayed with. And that's ALL weed that you didn't grow....not just concentrates.
There are NO (zero, zilch, none) consumer regulations, laws or protections. You are a lab rat. Not a patient.
And the con artist cannabis testing being done currently is a cruel joke on patients designed to con you.
You are 100% on your own, just like a back alley buy. Do you remember the meat packing industry of the 1930's? Welcome to the Greens packing industry of the 10's.
The collective I belong to has it's own LC and GC for testing, with appropriate calibration standards. You would be surprised how much ours varies from the "major" labs (frackin facepalm). People actually buy products by how much THC-A is in them, when THC-A isn't useable by your body! "Testing" is just bragging rights for dispensaries. It allows them to sell more.
Most people haven't a clue as to why a THC-A level doesn't mean much to your body that takes in THC and not THC-A and converts it to 11-hydroxy-THC that you body actually can use.. But it doe$ mean profit$ when they are bagging up your 94% THC-A Uber wax. (it's only a 47% THC concentrate when fully decarbed!) We have checked many samples tested by the well known labs only to find MAJOR discrepancies in EVERY sample.
But to be honest butane is the very last thing I would worry about being in my hash. I'd worry about nerve poisons like insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and non approved "plant enhancers and growth regulators" that are already considered too dangerous for FOOD but are used on your MEDICINE daily...
Besides butane residue isn't really harmful. You inhale 1000x the amount of unburnt hydrocarbons daily, just from sources around you. It's the contaminants and lubricating oils in canned butane that are unhealthy, not the gas itself. If you are hunting down what is hazardous, look at what your weed was fed on and sprayed with. And that's ALL weed that you didn't grow....not just concentrates.
darkrom
Great Scott!
Fully Medicated nice post thanks.
Unfortunately I have no control over any of what goes into it, but residual testing is one thing I was thinking could be done. Could these insecticides and other toxins be tested for once it is in concentrate form as well?
I can't wait until there is SOME kind of actual quality control being done.
Unfortunately I have no control over any of what goes into it, but residual testing is one thing I was thinking could be done. Could these insecticides and other toxins be tested for once it is in concentrate form as well?
I can't wait until there is SOME kind of actual quality control being done.
SD_haze
Well-Known Member
Not accurate? Preposterous!
(This isn't photoshopped, honestly just found this and screencapped)
kinda scary, just realised all of this, i was always worried about left over butane, but now im glad im growing, cause i dont spray ANY harmfull or any un-food grade things to my plants. ill be happy to start making my own "organic" wax if you must say. Im in an enclosed space, i dont have to worry about bugs and mites so i dont spray chemicals on my plants, think of all the trim everyones using thats been sprayed countless amounts of times with insecticide and other things.
ghostslinger
Member
As someone in a non-MMJ friendly/still criminalized state, I'm very curious when it comes to other states and how dispensaries operate.
Is there a preponderance of shops that use "test results" as a selling point, or is it limited to a select few that even mention "testing" in their displays?
Also, are they legally not allowed to mention what solvents they use in extraction?
Forgive my ignorance, I only seek knowledge
Is there a preponderance of shops that use "test results" as a selling point, or is it limited to a select few that even mention "testing" in their displays?
Also, are they legally not allowed to mention what solvents they use in extraction?
Forgive my ignorance, I only seek knowledge
Bodhi Diesel
Cannabis Snob
There is quality, accurate lab testing being done every day. I have dealt with both Steep Hill Labs in Oakland as well as Halent Laboratories in Sacramento and have found absolutely no reason to doubt the accuracy of their analyses nor their results.
It's easy to pontificate on a subject, but until proof can be shown conclusively that a specific lab's published results are shoddy, inaccurate or "made up", any opinion is just that, an opinion.
It's easy to pontificate on a subject, but until proof can be shown conclusively that a specific lab's published results are shoddy, inaccurate or "made up", any opinion is just that, an opinion.
fake name
Well-Known Member
You may have no reason to doubt them, but do you have reason to trust them? Have you done anything like send a piece of the same extract to more than one lab to see if the results are the same? If it is testable it is not an opinion, but conjecture.
Also, the use of pontificate seems very strange, was someone speaking like a pontiff?
Puffers
Micro-Climate Mastermind
Breaking out the five dollar words
.........Pontificate can also mean to give an opinion in a pompous manner.
fake name
Well-Known Member
I'd argue it means to say something dogmatically, which if so seemed a bit rude, as if people were just repeating things they had been trained to believe. Other than that i've heard it applied to tone of voice. But yes, words progress, didn't mean to come off rude. Many apologies.
Bodhi Diesel
Cannabis Snob
Yes, I trust them and yes I have had same strain samples tested by different labs. It's part of my business' regular routine.
Seriously? You question my use of "opinion" over "conjecture" and yet don't understand the use of pontificate?fake name said:
fake name
Well-Known Member
Thank you for the response. My point about opinion was not supposed to be semantic, I meant that it seemed strange to have opinions when simple tests can get past that point. It would be like having an opinion of how fast a car was going instead of looking at the odometer.
And my argument for pontificate is misplaced on this forum, but I 'understand' the word very well. But this is not an etymolgy forum.
And my argument for pontificate is misplaced on this forum, but I 'understand' the word very well. But this is not an etymolgy forum.
ghostslinger
Member
But what about the solvent listings? I'm guessing Puffers was being sarcastic but right about not being able to label what solvents were used to make concentrates since it's illegal in CA?
Bodhi Diesel
Cannabis Snob
I apologize for the brusque manner in which I approached this thread.
The labs don't care what kind of solvent is used since only zero (hopefully) or miniscule trace amounts exist in the samples they test and they are not the manufacturer. In fact, most lab owners and techs that I've met are concentrate "enthusiasts". They probably take exceptional steps to screen their favorite meds.
The labs don't care what kind of solvent is used since only zero (hopefully) or miniscule trace amounts exist in the samples they test and they are not the manufacturer. In fact, most lab owners and techs that I've met are concentrate "enthusiasts". They probably take exceptional steps to screen their favorite meds.
SD_haze
Well-Known Member
Any experience with SC Labs though? The guys built into weedmaps.com
That's the testing I posted earlier in the thread with "Safety Screens: Untested".
Honestly I mainly have used concentrate lab testing to try to confirm how FRESH the concentrate is. If the numbers expire in 5 days... I won't be ordering that.
But if it's... 50 days to expiration, then I might jump on that :-)
Bodhi Diesel
Cannabis Snob
Only one contact with SC Labs so I'll refrain from commenting on their validity. I generally ignore anything connected with weedmaps.com.
What test determines "freshness"?SD_haze said:
Puffers
Micro-Climate Mastermind
I dont see how a properly prepared (ie stable, not a wax) and stored concentrate "expires" i have some liquid nitro extracted hash i have had for about a yr and a half and its still potent as far as i can tell lol. I keep all my concentrates in air tight jars out of the light.
Didnt they find some herb from a monk that was like 2000+ years old and it was stilla basically fine?
Didnt they find some herb from a monk that was like 2000+ years old and it was stilla basically fine?
SD_haze
Well-Known Member
It's more an issue with retail weedmaps dispensaries down here.. How long it has been sitting on their shelf in a pre-weighed half gram plastic container. After 2 months in those things, it simply doesn't smell as strong
Since a lot of dispensaries down here pre-weigh concentrates down to half grams, and store them in PLASTIC containers, they aren't air tight and oxidation does happen.
The difference between an extremely pungent smell VS just a faint whiff.
SD_haze
Well-Known Member
That's the other part I forgot to add.
I've rarely seen anything other than wax/budder & pure gold down here.
Nowadays some Organalab's "co2 syringes" around too.
But overall the level of knowledge/understanding feels pretty low
![:\](/i/s/hmm.gif "Hmm :\")