Overview
Table of Contents
It is no secret that there has been an intensive increase in demand for CBD across many different places. CBD products have gained so much popularity because of the many benefits it can offer and because it is easy to purchase and get your hands on.
We all know how CBD products have been popping everywhere. But it is the sad notion that despite the rise in demand, the standards could not seem to catch up. Thus, there are tons of knock-off products, and the consumers are having a problem when it comes to being able to buy high-quality and safe CBD products. It is a fact that there are already countless CBD products available that are unregulated and are of bad quality. They could not be pure CBD or would not contain any CBD at all!
If you have been using CBD for quite a period of time, you would have known by now that the top tier and the good quality CBD products are genuinely providing third-party laboratory results on every product they offer. However, with even those brands holding themselves accountable and true, it is your responsibility to check the products before using and do a serious reading of the information you were given.
We understand that these laboratory documents can be confusing and inconvenient for some; that is why we are here to help. These laboratory results are meant to provide consumers the important details of the products, such as their content, purity, and potency – and we are here to make these CBD laboratory tests easy for you. Compounds being tested include the cannabinoid and terpene profile and screening for heavy metals, microbes, pesticide, and solvent residue.
Why third-party laboratory testing is important
The use of third-party laboratories to test CBD products is not regulated and is not required. However, many companies and manufacturers make their results available to their consumers and clients – and these are the type of companies that you should be trusting. So why is this important? To simply answer that, those third-party testing laboratories and the results they provide are the basic but very significant item that separates a CBD that is of good quality from the ones with bad quality. Because of CBD lab results, it will be a lot easier for consumers to identify which products to buy and which brands to trust.
Cannabinoid Profile
The cannabinoid profile column of your laboratory results will tell you if there is truly CBD or cannabidiol in your product, its percentage, and if other cannabinoid compounds are present. Of course, there are other cannabinoids apart from CBD, and some of them are still present in CBD products. CBD products are often classified as broad-spectrum, full-spectrum, and isolate – read more about their differences in this article: CBD Isolate vs. Full Spectrum. Identifying which is important since other users are only after the CBD, and some are doing away with THC and other cannabinoids. While some prefer those, who have most types of cannabinoids to achieve the entourage effect they desire. The cannabinoid profile will also determine the concentration of cannabinoids, other than CBD, in each product.
Terpene Profile
Terpenes provide the flavor and scent of the cannabis plants, but they also have benefits and medicinal properties of their own. That is why getting a hold of the terpene profile is equally important for you to determine which product will best suit your CBD treatment. You may even have them customized to fit your specific or special needs.
Screening for Heavy Metals
Heavy metals can be harmful to the human body, so we will never want them in our CBD products. These heavy metals can leach into the plant from the soil through their roots and may cause contamination. These heavy metals include mercury, lead, arsenic, and cadmium. Having them screened and reflected in your CBD lab results will help you be sure that your CBD products are free of contamination and are of good and safe quality.
Screening for Microorganisms and Mycotoxin
The microbe and mycotoxin screening will detect and verify the absence of microbes that can be harmful such as mold, yeast, and bacteria. This will also screen for toxic substances that are released by fungi that are referred to as mycotoxins. Screening for microbe and mycotoxin will also help you ensure that your buying product is free from toxins and bacterial contamination.
Screening for Pesticide
Several cannabis or hemp plants are grown using pesticides that can be harmful to the human body. These pesticides can seep into the plants and can be included in the cannabinoid extraction process. Because of the high demand for CBD, many products have not been properly screened. They are heavily contaminated with pesticides with a particular chemical, myclobutanil, which has become a concern, especially for CBD products used for vaping. Myclobutanil has byproducts that can be extremely toxic, and we should avoid that.
Screening for Solvent Residue
The extraction process from one company to another greatly varies. It is a sad reality that there are producers who turn to use harmful solvents only to reduce costs during the extraction process. This can be alarming since these harmful compounds or solvents tend to stay around the product even after the whole extraction process.
Screening for solvent residue is very important since these solvents are truly harmful and dangerous for the consumers. Solvent residue should never be present in the products that you consume and should be avoided altogether.
Summary: The must-see in CBD lab results
We have already discussed the compounds and chemicals that should be tested in screened-in your CBD products. But there are still items that you may need to look more thoroughly into, and these are:
- The amount of CBD in the product should be of utmost importance because you would not want to be spending on something that has little or no CBD content at all. The CBD laboratory test results will verify the actual CBD content, and this should be the first thing you should look into when you get your hands on the result.
- THC is a very important compound to look into as well. Many users prefer to use CBD products with no THC, while some may need a minute amount of THC in their CBD items. Note that the commonly allowed limit of THC in CBD products is only at 0.3%, and it is important that this should be reflected in the laboratory results.
- The details of the cannabinoid profile as a whole is also very important. This will give the user detailed information of what is inside the product and confirm the type of CBD product you are going for.
Final Thoughts
Having the luxury of knowing what is inside the products you are buying and consuming is indeed empowering and great. And we can do this because of the CBD laboratory tests being provided to us, and we should only be diligent and patient enough to read and understand the results. With the many companies and CBD products popping everywhere, it is always important that you only get the ones that are trustworthy, potent, safe, and effective for you.