Standardization News

A proposed ASTM International standard will establish sound sampling strategies for post-harvest flowers, leaves, and other cannabis or hemp biomass. ASTM’s cannabis committee (D37) is developing the proposed standard.

The proposed standard (WK64336) will provide protocols to ensure that statistically representative samples relative to the batch are collected, resulting in an adequate representation of associated analytical results. This will help ensure consumers have safe and consistent products.

“Traceability from the original batch to the consumer is essential,” says ASTM International member Cary Black, principal consultant and CEO of CK Black Group Inc. “This also heightens the quality of the data, enabling cultivators to have greater confidence in their processes and better detect anomalies or deficiencies that may affect final product quality.”

The proposed standard will be useful to cultivators of raw cannabis or hemp plants.“Cultivators ​of raw cannabis/hemp plants ultimately require analytical test results designed to define the phytochemistry or level of impurities within a given post-harvest lot,” says Black. “The analytical results provide data indicating the conformity of the results within the guiding pharmacopeia or regulatory conditions of the final product.”