Cannabis Vape Cartridge Safety: Patients & Industry Speak Out

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“What we do know, is that just about every cartridge out there has lead in it,” -Jacqueline McGowan, Director of local licensing and business development, Sacramento Ca. Lobbying firm K Street Consulting in a High Times article today about Lead In Vape Cartridges.

Patients like myself love the access to Cannabis in legal states, others in states and countries that have yet to legalize don’t have the choices we have. We are fortunate, and we also face a new industry that’s still learning in many ways – one of them includes making sure patients aren’t receiving products that expose us to any possible harm. After all, we have a health condition and that’s why we’ve chosen to use Cannabis as Medicine. With Epilepsy I certainly do not want exposure to heavy metals – as that causes seizures, see Healthline. I’ll use some other Lead exposure information they provide as some may ease your mind, some of it may not. One thing I personally know is I don’t want lead as a side order to my cannabis diet. I don’t think anyone does. Headaches became a common side effect I’ve had when vaping from cartridges so I avoid them except when traveling or in a situation where there’s no other option.

“I got a burning down the back of my neck. I was thinking I inhaled too hard or something but I just stopped using that kind” said Mary McCafe of California of one of her experiences with vaping. “I do not use them for this reason. I battle MS, so I don’t need any extra brain pain,” Tonya Dukes of Michigan boldly claimed. And she’s right, any exposure especially long term can and will cause neurological damage. It’s fact and not a debate. Whether or not a certain cartridge has led is now a heavy debate, but shouldn’t be. Some simply aren’t going to take the risk and won’t use any of them, others won’t pay much attention to what’s going on and therefore won’t know any better. I’m personally hoping we find solutions to this problem soon.

High Times isn’t the first to report on this. In October 2017 The Rolling Stone published an article “Are Weed Pens Safe?” that was very informative regarding what’s put into vape pens, or used to be, as the standard. “The market is flooded with substandard products that have questionable safety,” says Jahan Marcu, the Chief Scientific Officer at patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, and has a Ph.D. in molecular pharmacology. “These companies are doing their safety testing on the public and their loved ones.”

“The codes are not the problem. It’s the industry that needs to step up. All the technology/raw product processing exists. Collectively we can standardize a safe consistent quality product from Cannabis,” said Michael Woods McCausland of San Francisco, President of CaSunBuds in a professional network comment, he wasn’t alone in this thought. “This is why I still prefer my bong over all other methods of delivery” stated Julie Kremer, a sales and compliance director for NatureTrak from Orange County, a Cannabis Supply Chain entity.

While Cannabinoid Medicine expert and educator Dr. Jake Felice firmly stated “There are no safe levels of lead. Retailers and manufacturers beware. The whole industry needs to step up in terms of consumer safety and confidence in our products. There will be lawsuits.” I must agree with him. Research proves that lead intake has long-term effects we’re still unsure of. ANY intake. From Autism to Alzheimer’s lead exposure is a known cause.

Due to the knowledge that vape cartridges cause this problem and untested extracts have unknown solvents, many prefer to stick to smoking cannabis

In 2015, an article entitled “All Vape Pen Oils are Not Created Equal,” was published to shed light on vaporizing CO2 extracted cannabis oil as it became more popular among medical cannabis patients in California. As a result of this comparison, it was shown that there was a hidden practice of diluting cannabis oil with vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol, the latter if exposed to high heat could expose patients to carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals) and dangerous toxins. Dr. Sue Sisley, in an appearance on ‘The Doctors’ TV Show proclaimed that the FDA confirms these chemical additives are safe for consumption, but worries, “Just because it’s safe to eat, doesn’t mean it’s safe to heat up and inhale.” She added that the flavor additives, which are popular in marijuana oils, are also not tested for heating.

When it comes to cannabis extracts, it’s essential to assure consumers that they’re not only using products that are effective, but also conform to ethical, health, and safety standards. These standards of practice need to be created and followed because everything in the plant becomes concentrated when extracted, not just THC or CBD, and how it’s processed must be done in a safe manner as this can also affect what’s in your vaporized extract, which affects your health and mine as patients.

“Lead toxicity is rare after a single exposure or ingestion of lead.” Well this is reassuring it seems, isn’t it? I’ve vaped a few hundred cartridges to be on the conservative side and reused several as well. With new regulations, we’ll be much safer but that won’t stop those that have old cartridges from selling them and also won’t stop the unregulated market at all.

Signs of repeated lead exposure include aggressive behavior, constipation, sleep problems, headaches, irritability, loss of appetite, fatigue, high blood pressure, numbness or tingling in the extremities, memory loss, anemia, kidney dysfunction to name a few, none of these are indicative of what Cannabis as Medicine stands for, as an Industry Standards Of Operation are necessary for the supply chain to provide safe products to consumers. One of these Standards would be to implement some type of system to weed out the bad cartridges so the Cannabis oil within them doesn’t get a bad reputation. It’s a newer industry and will go through growing pains. There are some American-made vape cartridges that Industry leaders believe to be safe, until this can be proven I’m going to wait to use another vape cartridge.

Full Article From Today: High Times Discloses: "Lab Testing Reveals There’s Lead in Most Vape Cartridges"

With new lab testing requirements for cannabis products that went into effect in California at the beginning of this year, licensed manufacturers have new hurdles to clear to bring safe and compliant merchandise to market in 2019. And many industry insiders are concerned about the addition of analytic testing for heavy metals, a new requirement included in the Phase-3 testing implemented by the state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control.

Jacqueline McGowan, the director of local licensing and business development at Sacramento lobbying firm K Street Consulting, told High Times that many in the business expected the new standards could be a challenge.

“We knew this was going to be an issue back in July of last year when we saw phase-2 testing standards go into effect and how that affected the marketplace,” says McGowan.

Of the more than fifty licensed cannabis testing labs in California, only a fraction are ready to perform the new tests, which also include screening for mycotoxins—poisons created by molds and fungi.

McGowan says that one of her clients, Rebecca Kirk of CWG Botanicals in Oakland, was concerned about the possibility of vape cartridges not passing the new tests. Although her company, a cannabis cultivator, manufacturer, and distributor, had not yet produced any cannabis oil cartridges, she was in the process of product development. After obtaining eight different samples of cartridges, she sent them to a laboratory for an independent analysis.

“What we do know, is that just about every cartridge out there has lead in it,” says McGowan.

McGowan said that it is difficult to find empty vape carts that are produced domestically.

“They all come from China,” she says. “There are a few that say that they are manufactured in the U.S., but in reality, they’re assembled in the U.S. The parts are still from China.”

McGowan adds that there are no BCC requirements ensuring that the hardware used for cannabis products be tested for safety.

“We’re going above and beyond the regulations in this project because we’re seeing failures for oil we know is clean,” said McGowan.

Josh Myers, the director of sales at the cannabis ancillary products supplier the Calico Group, said that “it’s absolutely true” that some vape cartridges on the market are contaminated with lead. He said that the Chinese manufacturers are “already well aware of this. Most of the manufacturers have already got on board, but there’s still a tremendous amount of product … that still has lead in it.”

Myers added that some California cannabis companies are having empty cartridges independently analyzed and are finding that about 5 percent are testing positive for lead.

Due Diligence is Key

Greg Magdoff is the CEO of the cannabis testing company PharmLabs, which will begin Phase-3 testing for heavy metals at its lab in the Coachella Valley early next month. He also confirms that he’s heard from manufacturers whose vape cartridges have failed heavy metal tests even though the oil had passed before it was put inside. Magdoff says that companies should know that cannabis can be contaminated from the material it is contained in, including inks or paints used on wrappers and containers.

“It’s really important that people understand that these heavy metals can leach out from the packaging, cartridges, etc. into the product,” Magdoff tells High Times.

He also cautions manufacturers eager to cut costs to closely consider their responsibility to consumers.

“If they decide to get a good deal and they’re getting hundreds of thousands of carts overseas, they have to do their due diligence, take one of the empty carts to a local lab and get a metals test– digest it down and see what’s in there,” says Magdoff.

Kirk tells High Times that some fellow manufacturers have shown her cartridge test results that have passed the new standards for heavy metals. But those tests were conducted on the oil inside, not the cartridge itself. Kirk says that terpenes are acidic and could be causing lead to leach from the cartridge into the cannabis oil.

“We honestly don’t know,” she says. “Is it now contaminated because it’s been sitting in there a year?”

Kirk is still looking for vape cartridges that she is comfortable using for her products.

“We’ve got to find something that gives us assurance that six or nine months down the line we’ve still got a clean product,” said Kirk. “We’re looking at a potentially great deal of liability.”

Toxic Metals Found in E-Cigarette Vapor

The danger is real. A Johns Hopkins University study released last year found that lead and other toxic metals had been detected in the vapors produced by some e-cigarette devices. Rich Able, a medical device marketing consultant, told Forbes that “the metals detected in this study have been associated with multiple adverse health effects under chronic conditions of exposure. Neurotoxins such as lead are linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular and kidney disease. The other metals listed are even more nefarious to human organs.”

Able called for government regulation of e-cigarette devices to help ensure their safety.

“It is critical for manufacturers of these delivery systems to design, engineer, and manufacture these devices to FDA medical device quality standards,” he says. “To continue manufacturing and marketing these devices to the smoking population without further diligence and clinical review is unethical and unconscionable.”

McGowan said that some businesses are hoping for a legislative fix to the problem.

“They’re planning on running a few different testing bills but I just don’t see how in the world they could ever get passed,” McGowan says. “They want to do bulk testing instead of final form testing, but that still means that we will have lead in our cartridges. I’m a consumer. I don’t want to smoke lead. And I don’t want our industry to suffer the consequences of negative headlines.”

In a memo to clients titled “Upcoming Extinction Events” that was published on social media, McGowan and K Street colleague Maximillian Mikalonis warn that sourcing safe vape carts will be a priority for manufacturers in 2019.

“Once cartridges manufactured prior to December 31, 2018, sell out, manufacturers will face difficulty in sourcing hardware for vaporizer cartridges that can pass Phase-3 heavy metals testing. This will have a negative impact on manufacturer sales and the retailers that run out of cartridges for consumers. If only the illicit market has access to cartridges, expect a rough ride for legal cannabis sales,” they wrote.