Detection of typical GC-MS Pesticides in Cannabis Matrix utilizing APCI-LCMS
Presented By: Jennifer Davis, Shimadzu Scientific

With the increase in medicinal and recreational cannabis legislation throughout the United States there is an emerging demand for residual pesticide testing on cannabis products. The regulatory lists created by California and Oregon for cannabis are currently being analyzed using both LCMS and GCMS. This is because certain compounds do not ionize well by electrospray ionization- liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (ESI-LCMS). This study demonstrates the use of APCI-LCMS and explores the utility of LCMS for the analysis of the complete California and Oregon pesticides lists for cannabis. A Shimadzu LCMS-8060 triple quadrupole mass spectrometer equipped with an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) ionization source was employed for this evaluation. Optimization was completed for ten pesticides, including Captan, Chlordane, and Chlorfenapyr. The resulting APCI-LCMS MRM method was tested in cannabis flower extract on a Shimadzu LCMS-8060. For each pesticide one to five MRM transitions were acquire, and chromatographic separation was accomplished. Matrix-matched calibration curves were prepared by serial dilution of spiked flower extract with blank flower extract and evaluated for each pesticide. The LOQs determined in this method were well below the action limits required by California and Oregon, demonstrating the viability of an LCMS total solution for cannabis testing in these two programs.

Environmental monitoring for cannabis production and cultivation
Presented By: Kelli Mazzi

Want to get to know more about environmental monitoring and why it is key to good production practices? Viable air monitoring can indicate microbial contamination in your growing or production environment and trending data can alert you to any potential contamination risks. Sanitation verification (ATP testing) also depicts the cleanliness of your environment and can indicate whether or not your SOP’s are effective. In this workshop we will show a hands-on demonstration of our RCS High Flow Touch and MAS VF viable air samplers and our MVP ICON instrumentation for ATP testing.  

Microbiology Testing:

Rapid indicator testing for microbial contamination 
Presented By: Shikeba Shirzay

The MC Media pad is designed for convenient and rapid routine testing of microbial contaminations in your food and beverage products.  We will discuss the features and benefits of the MC Media pad as well as walk you through how to sample and how you can interpret your results using an automatic colony counter.

• The Big 4 Heavy Metals: Digestion and analysis by ICP-MS.

Presented By: Stephan Altmaier PhD

The legalization of cannabis in various countries has created a hype around the plant and resulted in the commercialization of cannabis and numerous cannabis containing products in the food & beverage, cosmetics and personal care products market. This development made testing of products for their levels of, e.g., cannabinoids, pesticides or heavy metals necessary in order to prove they are harmless to consumers. This work describes an ICP-MS method for the analysis of various heavy metals in Cannabis sativa plant material. Cannabis is known to accumulate metals in various parts of the plant at differing levels. As a consequence, several protocols for the homogenization of cannabis buds were developed. For comparison, cannabis buds were separated into seeds, stems and leaves and the plant parts were subjected to ICP-MS.

What smells so good? 2 approaches for terpene GC-MS analysis

• Unique headspace SPME extraction and GC-MS analysis
  Presented By: Katherine Stenerson, PhD
  In this session, you will learn about using a quick, inexpensive and easy technique called solid phase microextraction (SPME) to look at terpene profiles of cannabis. We will demonstrate how to assemble an SPME device and do a quick sampling from hemp buds. The device will then be analyzed using GC/MS, which will allow us to make tentative identifications of the terpenes based on their spectra. You will see the benefits SPME has to offer with regards to cost, portability and environmental friendliness when compared to other extraction techniques.
• Liquid-liquid extraction and GC-MS analysis
  Presented By: Rafael Acosta
  In this session, we will discuss an alternate approach to  cannabis related terpenes analyzes via GC/MS in full scan mode using Certified Reference Materials. Tridecane is used as the internal standard as it is not found in the samples and elutes in the middle of the chromatogram. The full scan spectra of the reference standard mix, calibration standards and samples were searched and matched against the NIST GC/MS spectra library. The method can be easily modified and adapted to include additional terpenes of interest and be able to identify and quantitate them with the same approach. A fast, simple and sensitive GC/MS method for overall terpenes analysis will be presented.

Rapid gradient method optimized for 17 cannabinoids using HPLC-UV
Presented By: Chris Leija, PhD

Let's talk instrument configuration for an ideal LC method
Presented By: Hillel Brandes, PhD

When planning for new method development, an initial consideration should include what instrument is available or intended to be used for the experimentation. This will impact options regarding choice of analytical column. Conversely if a specific type of column is intended, this will influence what instrument is best paired with the column. Given those choices, what follows are other considerations regarding instrument configuration to optimize the chromatographic performance of the selected column. While method development generally addresses aspects of the actual analytical method, this talk will highlight due consideration of optimum instrument configuration to achieve the best chromatographic performance.

High Purity Water: Hints and Tips for Cannabis Analyses
Presented By: Tricia Schnulle

Ultrapure water is highly prone to contamination, e.g., it easily leaches contaminants out of container surfaces and absorbs contamination from the laboratory environment. As ultrapure water is the most-frequently used solvent in any LC-MS laboratory, its purity plays a critical role in analyses. There are a number of high-purity water handling pitfalls that result in degradation of its quality. To help analysts critically evaluate the potential risks involved in poor ultrapure water handling, we will discuss the effect of laboratory environment and long high-purity water storage, the effect of the container material used to collect ultrapure water, the effect of laboratory ware and equipment cleaning, and the effect of poor practices of water purification system usage.

Analyte Protectants for Cannabis Pesticides Analysis via GC/MS/MS
Presented By: Rafael Acosta, PhD

Pesticides analysis in Cannabis products via GC/MS/MS can sometimes be challenging if the right approach is not considered. In this talk we will explore the utilization of analyte protectants in order to ensure the analyte responses are reproducible and maximum sensitivity is achieved. We’ll discuss some tips and tricks to enable customers who may be experiencing less than desirable results. A few of the topics to be discussed in this session include:

o GC Injection Techniques
o Sample Preparation
o MS Instrument Optimization。

Pesticide cleanup using QuEChERS and SPE
Presented By: Katherine Stenerson,PhD

In this session, you will learn about using a quick, inexpensive and easy technique called solid phase microextraction (SPME) to look at terpene profiles of cannabis. We will demonstrate how to assemble an SPME device and do a quick sampling from hemp buds. The device will then be analyzed
using GC/MS, which will allow us to make tentative identifications of the terpenes based on their spectra. You will see the benefits SPME has to offer with regards to cost, portability and environmental friendliness when compared to other extraction techniques.

LC-MS analysis of pesticides using SILs
Presented By:Geoffrey Rule, PhD

The importance of understanding matrix suppression effects in electrospray ionization LC-MS is well known. This training describes how to perform studies to characterize matrix effects from a given sample type and suggests possible remedies. One remedy is to make use of stable isotopically labelled internal standards. Other possible remedies involve adjusting chromatographic conditions to reduce matrix effects and improving sample clean-up.

What makes a CRM a CRM?
Ingrid Hayenga, PhD

Reference materials are crucial to a laboratory’s quality assurance. They are used in method validation, calibration, and measurement of uncertainty to ensure reliable and accurate test results. The different terminologies used for them across various applications can occasionally cause confusion while determining the best fit-for-purpose reference material, potentially impacting the accuracy of your test results.

In this training you will learn:

• Important terms & concepts in the dictionary of certified reference materials
• How to establish proper reference materials selection criteria for your testing applications

Lab Safety 101 – Proper PPE Practices
Presented By: Bill Ozanich

How to prep a standard
Presented By: Chris Leija, PhD