Search your stash: 538 cannabis pesticide tests show what’s in your weed

California’s testing requirements for cannabis products contain major gaps. To understand what’s being missed and what consumers are exposed to, the Los Angeles Times bought more than 150 products from licensed stores, as well as from tobacco shops and illicit vendors, and had them tested at three state-licensed labs, Anresco Laboratories, SC Labs and Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs.

Those tests were conducted without the labs knowing what brand they tested.

Where available, the tests included expanded screening for more than 290 pesticides and checks for other hazardous materials, such as vitamin E acetate or synthetic cannabinoids.

The Times also obtained data from private market tests conducted on behalf of vape manufacturer Raw Garden and the March and Ash dispensary chain as well as participating labs.

Pesticides pose a particular threat in inhaled cannabis products such as vapes or prerolls, because toxicants enter the lungs and travel through the bloodstream to internal organs, including the brain. In addition, heat from combustion causes some pesticides to degrade into harmful gases such as hydrogen cyanide.

In small concentrations, the risks from one-time use are minimal, but increase with repeated exposure over time.