Colorado is expanding required safety testing for marijuana concentrates later this month, requiring laboratories to screen products for 17 additional residual solvents that can be left behind during manufacturing.
The expanded testing requirements will take effect September 28, according to a September 11 industry bulletin issued by the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED). The requirements apply to solvent-based regulated marijuana concentrates and certain hemp products entering the licensed marijuana market.
Residual solvents are chemicals that can remain in a marijuana concentrate after solvents are used during extraction or other manufacturing processes. Colorado already requires concentrates to be tested for substances including acetone, butane, ethanol, propane, benzene, methanol, hexane and toluene.
Under the expanded testing panel, laboratories will also screen for substances including anisole, 1-butanol, 2-butanol, butyl acetate, ethyl ether, methyl acetate, methylene chloride and several other solvents. Many of the newly added substances are required to be undetectable for a product to pass testing.
The state’s updated rules list 18 additional solvents compared with the previous testing panel. However, MED is temporarily delaying enforcement of testing for triethylamine, meaning testing for the other 17 newly added solvents will begin September 28. Regulators said businesses will receive at least 72 hours’ notice before the triethylamine requirement is eventually enforced.
The expanded testing requirements were originally scheduled to take effect July 1. MED delayed implementation after no regulated marijuana testing facilities had yet received the certifications necessary to perform testing for the newly required substances. The division said at the time that implementation would begin once laboratories became certified.
Colorado’s rules generally require solvent-based marijuana concentrates to pass residual-solvent testing before being transferred through the regulated market. The rules establish maximum allowable concentrations for substances that may legally be present, while requiring certain solvents that are not approved for marijuana manufacturing to return no detectable result.
The September 28 change substantially broadens that screening. Colorado’s previous residual-solvent panel specifically listed 13 substances. With the 17 additional requirements taking effect this month, laboratories will be screening for 30 specifically listed solvents, with triethylamine set to become the 31st once regulators begin enforcing that requirement.
