การหาโลหะหนัก ในกัญชง กัญชา โดยเครื่อง ICP-MS

Owing to the toxicity of heavy metals, it is increasingly important to test cannabis flowers and other cannabis derivatives so that patient and consumer safety is maintained as the use of cannabis becomes more common. This need has translated into an increasing demand for testing cannabis flowers and other cannabis derivatives for toxins such as the heavy metals cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), and mercury (Hg). Similar to federal pharmaceutical and nutraceutical requirements in the US1-5, states like California6, Oregon, and Colorado have published action limits for heavy metals.

Each jurisdiction where cannabis is permitted has published required maximum allowable heavy metals in cannabis and related products. Many of these limits are based on USP <232>/ICH Q3D recommendations. The limits differ based on the route of administration, similarly to what is set out in the ICH Q3D recommendations. Currently, Canada has not set regulations around metals in cannabis products, but is referring to USP <232> and <233> for guidance. Some of the currently known limits for heavy metals are provided in Table 1. For the purpose of this study, the California limits on “all inhaled cannabis goods” were used as they are the most stringent and most applicable to cannabis flower.