Pesticide regulations are in place to keep consumers safe. Testing laboratories are faced with the challenge of diverse sample types, rapidly evolving regulations, varying lists of target pesticides between states, and low detection limits. While many methods exist for numerous food commodities, cannabis poses unique challenges due to the high concentration of cannabinoids which can interfere with quantitation, and that the pesticides of interest range from highly polar to non-polar, requiring both LC and GC for reliable, sensitive measurements.

Waters’ expertise in pesticide analysis has translated into robust and sensitive methods for cannabis laboratories, enabling detection below current regulatory levels, and with flexibility to adapt to the ever-changing market.