Pesticides in Cannabis Important Study

Discussion in 'Growing Organic Marijuana' started by DoobieDuck, Dec 17, 2013.

  1. \tPesticides in Cannabis Important Study<blockquote class="">I came across this interesting study today I thought many of you might be interested in. Actually something everyone should read and consider. I believe news articles about it have been posted before but not the actual study. I'm not posting the entire study, I encourage you follow the link and read it. I have posted only a portion of it below. 

    My conclusion, as always, people should be allowed to grow their own! Thus eliminating this risk completely. Organic my friends….
    DD

    http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jt/2013/378168/ 
    Journal of Toxicology

    Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 378168, 6 pages
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/378168

    Research Article
    Determination of Pesticide Residues in Cannabis Smoke
    Nicholas Sullivan, Sytze Elzinga, and Jeffrey C. Raber
    The Werc Shop, Inc., Pasadena, CA 91107, USA http://www.hindawi.com/10407972/ 
    Received 11 February 2013; Accepted 22 April 2013

    Academic Editor: Steven J. Bursian
    Copyright © 2013 Nicholas Sullivan et al. 
    This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 

    Abstract

    The present study was conducted in order to quantify to what extent cannabis consumers may be exposed to pesticide and other chemical residues through inhaled mainstream cannabis smoke. Three different smoking devices were evaluated in order to provide a generalized data set representative of pesticide exposures possible for medical cannabis users. Three different pesticides, bifenthrin, diazinon, and permethrin, along with the plant growth regulator paclobutrazol, which are readily available to cultivators in commercial products, were investigated in the experiment. Smoke generated from the smoking devices was condensed in tandem chilled gas traps and analyzed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Recoveries of residues were as high as 69.5% depending on the device used and the component investigated, suggesting that the potential of pesticide and chemical residue exposures to cannabis users is substantial and may pose a significant toxicological threat in the absence of adequate regulatory frameworks.

    Here is only a portion of the article. Again I encourage those interested to read the entire thing. 

    To date, there are no approved pesticides or application limits established for use on cannabis crops by the US EPA; therefore, all pesticide use on this crop is currently illegal [3]. The use of pesticides and plant growth regulators in medicinal cannabis cultivation has been found to be quite prevalent by both testing laboratories and authority laboratories alike. Many commercially available pesticide containing products or nutrient systems, some only approved for use on ornamental crops, are widely available from a variety of sources including hardware stores, specialty indoor hydroponic shops, and various, sometimes unscrupulous, online vendors. While 18 states allow cannabis for medicinal use, the majority of the current medical cannabis supply lacks regulations and enforcement related to the quality and safety of the plant material for consumption. Laboratories operating within California have reported that cannabis samples contaminated with residual pesticides are frequently encountered. In 2009 the Los Angeles City Attorney's office covertly acquired and then tested three medical cannabis samples available to patients through dispensaries and found that in two of the samples exceedingly high levels of bifenthrin were found. In one sample, 1600 times the legal digestible amount was measured, and in the other, 85 times the legal limit was measured, although the exact quantities were not stated

    3. J. Thomson, “Medical Marijuana Cultivation and Policy Gaps,” California Research Bureau, 2012.
    4. N. Skeet, “City Attorney Explains Medical Marijuana Issue on NBC,” http://lacityorgatty.blogspot.com/20...s-medical.html, 2009.</blockquote>

     
     
  2. Why do you think I advise people to check out oils, neem and the other benign tools of the trade we use to combat undesirables?
     
    Most people are lazy, hence they'll use what other's suggest or the dude at the grow store supplies. They don't want to bother with reading or informing themselves of the risks they take. It's just assumed people (the growers) supplying the product will take responsibility for the material they produce.
     
    Ha.
     
    Seriously; it's more than half the reason I quit accepting others smoke. It's not only grown shittily (ha) it's most likely dirty or contaminated with bullshit. Eagle 20 ftw yo.
     

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