BEND, OR , May 09, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Signal Bay, Inc. (OTCQB:SGBY) parent company of EVIO Labs, a leading provider of analytical testing services to the legal cannabis industry, provides insight to the proposed marijuana testing rules released on April 28th by the California Bureau of Marijuana Control. EVIO Labs reports that the proposed testing requirements are far more stringent than the already existing testing requirements in Oregon, where EVIO operates four analytical testing labs. The rules will offer new protections for California’s medical cannabis patients, and validates the market opportunity for EVIO Labs as it opens testing facilities across the state.
The proposed rules require that every batch of cannabis that will be sold through licensed retailers be tested for potency, pesticides, heavy metals, residual solvents and microbiological impurities such as molds, Salmonella, E.Coli and mycotoxins.
All of this testing will be expensive. Today, California growers are spending $50 - $80 for individual tests such as potency, mold, pesticide and residual solvent to ensure clean cannabis is being sold. The proposed rules will implement batch testing, similar to other states like Colorado, Nevada, Massachusetts and Oregon, where every 10 pounds of dry flower is tested, but the new rules propose every batch of product be tested twice. Furthermore, product manufacturers will have to ensure each batch of edibles be tested ten times for potency to ensure the batch is homogeneous.
According to the Bureau of Marijuana Control, the proposed regulations are expected to increase the cost of medical cannabis by $407 a pound. This can mean over $4,000 in testing revenue per ten pound batch of marijuana flower.
EVIO Labs has reviewed these requirements through the lens of its Oregon experience. Most of the pesticides that are required to be detected must be detected at levels far lower than is required in Oregon. This means that analytical testing companies, such as EVIO Labs, will need to increase their capital investment in the top of the line testing equipment that will be required to detect contaminants at these levels. This may also make it difficult for smaller less capitalized labs to operate with these new proposed regulatory requirements.
Laboratories that perform testing must be accredited to ISO 17025 standards. According to the International Organization for Standardization, the ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 specifies the general requirements for the competence to carry out tests and/or calibrations, including sampling. It covers testing and calibration performed using standard methods, non-standard methods, and laboratory-developed methods. This standard has been used as a basis for ORELAP (Oregon Environmental Lab Accreditation Program) accreditation, which EVIO Labs has attained for its four (4) labs in Oregon.
EVIO has already begun the process of attaining ISO accreditation for EVIO California, which includes our lab in Yuba City. The company has been working during the past year to aggregate the best methods from four operating labs, standardize its operations, to prepare a “playbook” which will define the processes required to open several more labs, while all working most efficiently under the same set of operating procedures and methods.
Currently only a handful of labs that test Cannabis in California have ISO certification. The Bureau has indicated that the testing rules will add 713 new jobs to the sector, with an increase in California’s economy of over 2,000 jobs.
Below are some of the highlights of the proposed testing rules:
- The lab must demonstrate proficiency in testing, and maintain a detailed set of operating procedures and maintain a highly-qualified staff with demonstrated academic credentials and work experience.
- Sampling of product for testing must be performed on site by a trained, college educated sampler who will don personal protective equipment from hairnets to disposable coveralls and ensure that the samples are taken randomly, placed in glass vials, and stored in a precisely temperature controlled container are not altered in any way.
- The samples will be tested for cannabinoids - to measure of potency of THC, THCA, CBD, CBDA, CBG and CBN.
- Plant samples will be tested for moisture content to ensure the flower has been properly cured and will not attract new mold.
- Cannabis will be tested for filth and foreign material. This is typically a visual inspection performed with magnification.
- Concentrated products such as shatter will be tested for residual solvents and processing chemicals. The product will be tested for more than 20 chemicals ranging from butane and isopropyl alcohol to chloroform.
- Edible cannabis products will be tested for homogeneity. Each batch of edibles must be tested 10 times for THC or CBD to ensure that the product is consistent throughout the batch. The lab will evaluate the results of the ten tests, and evaluate that there are no statistical outliers, and that the standard deviation of the tests does not exceed 15%
- All products will be tested for 66 pesticides from myclobutanil to malathion. The proposed list of pesticides to be tested in California includes about 8 additional fungicides and pesticides not tested for in Oregon. Most limits are set to 0.01 – 0.02 parts per million, while in Oregon, the limits are ten times higher or 0.2 – 0.4 parts per million.
- Labs will test for microbiological impurities such as Salmonella, Aspergillus and Coli as well as mycotoxins, a toxic fungus.
- California’s medical cannabis will be tested for the heavy metals arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury.
- If clients desire to list terpenes on their product labels, labs must provide the terpene results.
- Throughout the process, the labs maintain detailed records, including chain of custody, recording every detail of the sampling and testing process
- The labs then produce detailed multi-page test reports that describe the results of the tests and methods used in testing.
According to the Los Angeles Times on May 7, 2017, “voters in November approved the sale of marijuana for recreational use and the testing guidelines are expected to be similar to those proposed for medical pot.”.
“Signal Bay has spent considerable time and resources over the last year planning for its California deployment of its EVIO Labs testing division,” said William Waldrop CEO of Signal Bay, “Growing up in California, I anticipated California’s proposed testing rules to be stringent as the states continues to be a leader in safety for its residents. The company is on track to meet its meet its goal of expanding to 18 testing labs by the end of 2018.”
The entire text of the proposed testing regulations can be found here: http://bmcr.ca.gov/
About Signal Bay, Inc.: Signal Bay, Inc. is an Oregon-based biotechnology company. Through its three subsidiaries: EVIO Labs, Signal Bay Research and Signal Bay Services; the Company provides analytical testing services, research and management advisory services to the legal cannabis industry. The Company's EVIO Labs division operates state-of-the-art testing facilities deploying our Cannabis Compliance Science accredited testing methodologies to ensure the safety and quality of the nation's cannabis supply. Learn more at http://www.signalbay.com or the company can be reached directly @ 1-888-544-EVIO.
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in Section 27(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements may contain certain forward-looking statements pertaining to future anticipated or projected plans, performance and developments, as well as other statements relating to future operations and results. Any statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be considered to be forward-looking statements. Words such as "may," "will," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "intends," "goal," "objective," "seek," "attempt," or variations of these or similar words, identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements by their nature are estimates of future results only and involve substantial risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to risks associated with the uncertainty of future financial results, additional financing requirements, development of new products, our ability to complete our product testing and launch our product commercially, the acceptance of our product in the marketplace, the uncertainty of the laws and regulations relating to cannabis, the impact of competitive products or pricing, technological changes, the effect of economic conditions and other uncertainties detailed from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available at www.sec.gov or http://www.signalbay.com