Sacramento marijuana testing lab admits to falsifying pesticide results

SACRAMENTO, California. (KCRA) —
A marijuana testing lab in Sacramento has admitted to falsifying hundreds of pesticide testing records that were submitted to the state.

The company in question is Sequoia Analytical Labs and the firm is taking full responsibility for what happened.

“This was a gut punch completely,” said Steven Dutra, general manager for Sequoia Analytical Labs.

Dutra said he was stunned to learn that lab results from his pesticide testing machines were falsified.

Dutra said the former lab director – whom he identified as Marc Foster – admitted the fraud after a surprise visit last week by state inspectors.

“When they asked the lab director where his data came from,” Dutra said. “He honestly told them, ‘I faked it.'”

The fake data from the former lab director involved 22 out of the 66 pesticides for which cannabis is typically tested. More than 700 lab results over a four-month span are now in question, Dutra said.

Sequoia immediately fired Foster and then surrendered its temporary testing license to the state Bureau of Cannabis Control. However, additional sanctions could be coming from the city of Sacramento.

“We’re going to be taking a look at suspending or possibly revoking their permit,” said Joe Devlin, Sacramento’s chief of Cannabis Enforcement.


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Pesticide Residue on Cannabis Produces Poison !

Fresh clean organically grown pesticide free cannabis is in demand and certainly should be obtained from certified California marijuana businesses, but what about that mom and pop grow? Or the under the radar non organic cultivation where pesticides are used unsafe for food use that never wash off or fertilizers that never flush out ? Especially in Medicinal cannabis?

Determination of Pesticide Residues in Cannabis Smoke

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."

The article in the Journal of Toxicology continues...

"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."

Two commonly used compounds include myclobutanil, a  fungicide sold under the trade name “Eagle 20.” It’s been found to have negative reproductive effects on test animals. Imidacloprid, a neurotoxin that is especially harmful to bees and other pollinators, has been blamed for eye irritation, dizziness, and vomiting among farm workers applying it to food crops.

And what happens to pesticide residues when they are smoked? What chemical changes take place and what health effects will the resulting toxins and off gases have?

It’s known that myclobutanil, when heated, releases hydrogen cyanide, a gas so toxic it’s been used in chemical warfare; not something smokers want to be inhaling.

Mostly, toxicologists are still hazy with what happens to the active ingredients in pesticides when they’re set ablaze. No one’s testing for that !

How to Control Bugs and Pests on Cannabis Organically