Ya reached out to ccell. They claim there is no lead but waiting on more details. We use glass 0.5/1g carts and darts. Abstrax doesn’t seem like the issue since we always send our samples of distillate mixed with their terpenes and everything comes back kosher. We also only use 7% terps which has never caused any issues like you described lol. It’s gotta be the carts. The only other thing I can think of, if CCell is telling the truth, is that the 3rd party testing lab has terrible practices and the lead is getting contaminated from other samples or something in their laboratory. We have had trouble with accurate results from them in the past, sending multiples of the same samples out and getting very different results back for each.
Would be interested in your other theory if you got one! Thanks so much btw
If ccell is lying about lead in the carts then the repercussions will be much bigger in the industry. I think they may have lead just more beneath the surfaces exposed to the oil. Problem is I think this might be a thin layer that’s just enough to pass testing or there is a non-metal component that is degrading and later exposing the lower grade stainless steel to the oil at a later point.
Additionally I used to store terpenes in the blue drums with white plastic lids. The lid began to warp and bubble in the middle after a month. Those terps are nasty.
Ya thats what it definitely seemed like, all the same carts, disty etc. The cart the disty and noth combined both passed all heavy metal standards and the one with terps had lead, chromium i thonk id have to look there was a few in low quanties but it was only tested 7 days so in a month i dont knkw jf it would increase or not.
Okay, so it sounds like the general consensus is that terpenes definitely can dissolve heavy metals over time, but that is not necessarily related to their acidity. If a company is claiming there is no lead in their products, though, then regardless of adding terpenes or not, lead should not be present. I am curious if anyone else has used ccell products and had material test positive for lead?
Update: We sent out a bunch more samples (all ccell products) and they all came back testing negative for lead. For clarity’s sake, a negative result means it was <500 ppb. Some samples came back with lead not detected, some came back with ~100-200 ppb.
I wonder if this indicates that our testing facility has poor practices or if there is just varying amounts of lead in the carts due to manufacturing inconsistencies. Alternatively, it could also have to do with the time the terps/disty spent in the cart before it was tested. I am going to make an excel sheet to track when carts were filled, the day they were tested, and the lead concentrations.
In the meanwhile, can anyone familiar with ICP-MS explain if it would be possible for lead from previous samples, standards, or even just the environment to interfere with results? We have had shoddy results concerning potency from this particular lab before so I am skeptical of their practices.
I have been having the same issue. I use a full spectrum oil with added terps and had similar results as you stated below. Some with non detections and some with 100-200ppm. The lab I used is one our facility uses regularly for hundreds of samples and usually never have any issues with quality. I’m thinking it may be something in the carts. Months after CCELL first became the go to cart I had issues with leeching lead. And although it wasnt publicly addressed, (at least to my knowledge) when it was brought up in a recent discussion due to the vape ban in MA. I was told they switched to all stainless steel parts and lead shouldnt be a concern… well then… where does it come from?!? I also test my oil before filling and comes back ND every time for any metals
hmm good question… probably using the parts for the cheaper knock offs I’d imagine. Love to get to this bottom of this. Wish it was cost effective to make these in the US. If this keeps up people may not have a choice but to pay a little extra for a true lead free cart.
