ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights why there are a variety of related analytical chemical “tests” which are important for the determination of different chemical constituents in cannabis products. It is intended to be an important overview of the current analytical techniques and instrumentation employed today and in the future for the safety of cannabis-derived products. Currently the topics of interest for safety in cannabis testing where analytical chemistry can play an important role include what are currently referred to as potency, residual solvents, pesticides, terpenes, heavy metals, and mycotoxins from mold. The chapter focuses on the analytical horsepower of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and other atomic spectroscopic techniques for the ultratrace determination of heavy metals, and begins with why this important modern analytical technique is very important to the field of cannabis analyses.
