Potency numbers sell cannabis (and extracts thereof). So labs who inflate their numbers sell more tests because their clients sell more product. Even producers that understand the numbers are inflated are under pressure to test there to remain competitive.
Clearly visible in WA public data on the subject.
Calling Anresco now, then BCC (CA’s lab regulators) Ill update along the way.
@Photon_noir Haven’t you vouched for Arnesco before? I know they are in a different state than you, but do you know those cats?
Pure Analytics in Santa Rosa was one of the first labs to do compliance testing. I feel like they don’t get the business they deserve. The head scientist and founder, Samantha, is a wonderful and strict chemist. They might be worth checking out.
My Anresco results indicate I have 12% moisture on my Rosin samples (along with the sample being 99.8% cannabinoids) and my Live Resin Sauce has 10% moisture… wonder how they are getting those results… I can guarantee there is no water in my hash.
hmmm…I recall being asked to get our cannabis bone dry before testing purposes…so that the numbers would be higher. when testing was required, but 3rd party wasn’t. I refused.
The only way I can see to get a “dry weight” on rosin would be to use 3a mol sieves and weigh what they absorbed. any other attempt at drying would simply evaporate terps. which might be what they did.
so you had 12% terps, and they evaporated that off, leaving 99.8% cannabinoids? nah, still don’t buy it…
Yes. Anresco labs. I don’t personally know them, but I know they are very well trained and experienced with analysis.
I just heard the same thing today from another party. We will definitely be giving Pure Analytics a try.
Karl Fischer titration can tell you water content without measuring other volatiles like terps
thank you.
How would I have 12% water content in a sample of BHO? Still confused.
How dry is your plant? How humid is it there? Do you winterize with ethanol? What kind of temp changes does it see? How much do you trust your lab?
Ive had ethanol crude test at 89.5% and winterized co2 crude at 93% total potential thc. Same lab, won’t name names. I think standards degrading, cutting costs, and taking on more business than they can handle for sure.
seriously, just get your own HPLC. You can pick up 2 generation old models for ~5000$ w/software, last generation is about 12-15K. Either can easily can run a basic a cannabinoid method. You can buy your own standards, and get your own results in 12 minutes. Then when you take it to a public lab for testing, and they give you crazy results, you can just say “Hey, we tested this in house at x, are you sure its y”. Think of all that you can do with it; pre test every batch of flower, post run testing to really understand how much cannabinoid you are throwing out, testing extract at every point in your process. It amazes me that some groups pay 300-500K to set up an extraction operation, but won’t spend anything on analytics. In house HPLC is a game changer. Once you have one you will wonder how you lived with out it.
Agreed! Get yourself some form of In House analytics
@shinyemulsion can I convince you to post a couple of candidates for older HPLC systems in the above thread?
Edit: here’s one reference for my claim that “inflation” is clearly visible in the public data out of WA.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-22755-2
Our analyses revealed clear, systematic differences in the results obtained by different testing facilities in Washington, with some labs consistently reporting higher or lower levels of cannabinoids than others.
Smartypants 
using the publicly available data…
Funny you should mention Steep Hill, out here in Nevada they were trying to run a testing lab out of someone’s house. I have seen some super shady lab results in Nevada in general. I have seen oil that I have had tested come at 107 % total potency(terpenes + Cannabinoids). Also one of the leaders of the analytical industry Digipath was rubber stamping 30 % plus test results for every strain of flower they tested in Nevada(6 months after the opening of dispensaries). I would say in general Digipath should be avoided along with steep hill. There is a reason the regulators have shut those labs down out here in Nevada.
Don’t forget the cost of maintenance, calibration, mobile phases, columns, standards, waste disposal, time, space, etc. as a scientist, yes get hplc-dad/ms/fid/whatever, but as a business under a certain size, finding a good lab makes a lot of sense.