I just got the residual solvent results back on my crude. The first batch I tested came back with no residual sovents save for a .42ppm Ethanol result which was expected. This most recent batch came back with a whole host of new solvents and I have no idea where they came from. I am using Ethanol from the same supplier and nothing has changed in my process. I am freaking out a bit. Did a dab of vacuum grease get in to my roto flask? Did I drop some plastic shavings in the tincture? Did some Iso propyl residue get into one of my beakers? Did I get a bad batch of Ethanol? Mostly I was hoping someone could offer some info on common sources of these solvents:
Benzene
Methanol
Isopropanol (I obviously know where this can come from)
Toluene
Acetone
Acetonitrile.
It’s USP grade Ethanol and it’s from the same supplier as the first batch which registered none of the solvents except ethanol. I’m below recommended limits on most of them but not on Benzene and Acetonitrile.
If you haven’t tested the new ethanol that may very well be it. Even if the supplier had clean ethanol last time, given the shortage, now would be the #1 time you’d see them stumble upon a bad batch assuming they may have sourced through a different producer.
Definitely get a second lab to compare. Always a good idea.
Benzene can come from pretty much anything so that one might be hard to narrow down assuming it didn’t also originate in your ethanol.
Hire any new lab techs lately? Lol maybe they don’t know what to clean your gear with.
Terpenes can give false positives for solvents including aromatic hydrocarbons. Some of the listed stuff is used to “dirty” ethanol in order to make it industrial/denatured. Acetonitrile can be from the testing lab as it can be used in HPLC.
Was the conteiner for the alcohol new and sealed? If not then maybe denatured alcohol was stored in it beforehand?
On solvents: The company the provides my solvents is pretty highly regarded industrial supplier, so all containers are sealed and definitely new. I am sending things out on Monday for a second test. I know the Biomass is clean as I have followed it from planting to harvest and drying. It has not been tested though for solvents, but I can’t imagine where they would have come from. I clean my primary equipment once a week. My gaskets are all PTFE and Tuff-Steel. SO i doubt anything is coming from there. Chilling fluid in the rotovap is PG/ Distilled water.
My thoughts on acetonitrile would be the lab as well, seeing as how it’s a very common mobile phase solvent and not common in cannabis processing at all. However, what I cant picture is how it would pop in his residual solvent panel?
That’s why it’s better to use Acetone to clean glassware. Especially now. I can get pure Acetone for about $2 a litre comparing to 8-10 for industrial Iso. Damn corona…