Looking for Emissions Testing for Cartridges/Vape Devices

Testing and Analytics
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Hello,

Does anyone know of any labs that do THC emissions testing for cartridges and vape devices? A few are closed due to COVID.

Thanks again

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Emission testing on carts? Like a smog test for vehicles?

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Analyzing the actual emissions from usage of a cartridge for harmful substances. It is done more in Canada/EU.

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Wouldnt that be a heavy metal test before hand? Or are you asking about if ppl use peg or the like to cut said cart, and having said cut turn to foremaldeheyde.

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The heavy metal test would test the actual materials in the cartridge. An emissions test would ensure no leeching/actually clean vapor. Just because the cartridge does not contain heavy metals does not not mean the vapor it produces is safe. Terps leeching silicon, for example.

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Then the distillate would be tainted if the vapor was tainted, correct? Or are you asking about the coil material?

Just trying to wrap my head around the question.

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I’m under the impression this process takes all those things into account by measuring the contents of the vapor,so yes, like an emissions test in ca.

The impurities can be traced back from the ‘finish line’ (actual vapor output of the device)

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Sounds like OP is looking to test the contents of the aerosol. What goes in a cart is not the same as what comes out in the vapor. It might be myrcene inside the cartridge but it can turn to benzene after its heated and vaporized. Different chemicals can form a long list of degradation byproducts and can interact with the other chemicals to cause even more potential outcomes. Throw in metals, varying voltages, impurities and hundreds of volatile organic compounds and you’ve got infinite possibilities for what’s in the inhaled vapor.

This industry really needs aerosol testing available so we can really understand inhalation risks for dabs and carts. Dabs especially can produce some nasty stuff because of the higher temp range but there’s so little research going on here yet because of its scheduling.

I’ve been toying with some ideas to collect aerosolized vapor but you basically need to dilute and test immediately to get even a glimpse of what’s in the aerosol. If anyone remembers gravity bongs, picture this but collecting that vapor and trapping it in a solvent to go out for immediate analysis. You’d need to set up a method one-on-one with the lab so it’s all diluted properly. It’s still a rough process but it’s a start. There have been some studies that were analyzing the aerosols in e-liquids that detailed method. If anyone has any leads on labs capable of testing for this already, please get in touch with me via PM. I’d love to see this become more of a standard for cannabis products because it’s going to more accurately depict user safety than testing the oil as is. We don’t know much of anything about the safety of a product until we know the composition of what’s really being inhaled.

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Please if anyone has leads for testing can they make it publicly available ? I’m also interested in getting carts vapour tested.