Robert Martin, Ph.D.

Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer, CW Analytical Laboratories
Robert Martin, PHD headshot

Project Goal

To create methods and standards that go beyond testing for cannabis potency, but which also test for pesticides, to ensure medicinal cannabis product safety for the treatment of potentially immunocompromised patients.

The Challenges

Complying with the new state cannabis legislation involves:

  • Sensitivity to detect low abundance level pesticides and residues for 70 pesticides
  • Decrease the time to verify cannabis organisms’ identity
  • Reduce or eliminate the potential for false positive ID. results as compared to culturing techniques

The Solution

  • The robust LC-MS/MS solution requires less maintenance than previous systems, and is sensitive enough to screen for 70 listed pesticides, ensuring the quality and safety of medicinal cannabis.

The Outcomes

  • Achieved leadership position by employing SCIEX innovations and application scientists
  • Meet increasing customer needs due to changing regulations
  • Find contaminations that other providers’ systems did not
  • Protecting patients from potentially harmful cultivation and storage via state-of-the-art methods
  • “LC-MS/MS is a key technology for our day to day testing needs and SCIEX robust solutions and routine workflows make implementation seamless. The ability to accurately analyze hundreds of samples a day offers a unique level of efficiency to our laboratory.”

Type of Organization

Independent quality assurance laboratory

Goals

Determining cannabis potency while also testing for pesticide levels and contamination.

Applications

Cannabinoid profiling, screening & analysis

SCIEX Products

  • SCIEX Triple Quad™ 6500+ and 3500 Systems
  • MultiQuant™ Software
  • “SCIEX methodologies and technical support are wonderful. They have some of the best scientists and equipment in the world – and no one can touch them for service.”