Exploring the Variance Among Cannabinoid Certified Reference Materials Based on Testing Data

Certified Reference materials (CRMs) continue to be a growing area of importance and concern for the cannabis and hemp testing industry. CRMs are an essential tool used by testing labs to develop and optimize testing methods, then once validated, to calibrate their instrumentation used to determine the concentration of cannabinoids in plant, extract and other derived products. Reported concentrations are used for labeling products sold to consumers. There is concern among industry stakeholders that CRMs are being intentionally selected to bias THC reporting either artificially high for marijuana products, or low for hemp. Off-the-shelf studies have also been conducted showing a wide variability exists between what is reported on consumer product labels and what is contained in those products. In order to investigate this in detail, a collaborative study was conducted by the American Council of Independent Laboratories’ (ACIL) Cannabis & Hemp Section. Five testing labs and five CRM Producers volunteered their time, resources and products to determine the variability of CRM calibration products available on the market today and if the variance among CRMs is sufficient to substantially bias reported values. Speakers in this session will present conclusions based on testing data from studies demonstrate the variance between label claims and what is contained in products sold in retail outlets and the variance between volunteer labs and multiple CRM products tested.