Agilent GC/MS Solutions for Cannabis and Hemp Testing

Importance of the Topic

Cannabis and hemp testing demands robust analytical methods to safeguard consumer health and meet regulatory requirements. GC/MS techniques enable precise quantification of pesticides, residual solvents, and terpenes across complex plant matrices. Prevalidated workflows accelerate method development and enhance data reliability.

Goals and Study Overview

This work presents Agilent GC/MS eMethods tailored for cannabis quality control. Emphasis is placed on three core analyses:

• Pesticide residue quantitation using triple quadrupole GC/MS
• Residual solvent profiling with headspace GC/MS
• Terpene fingerprinting via liquid injection GC/MS

Methods cover regulatory scopes in US states and Canada with run times under 16 minutes for pesticides and 15 minutes for selected analytes.

Methodology and Instrumentation

Agilent Intuvo 9000 platform is central to all workflows, featuring a MultiMode Inlet (MMI), mid-column backflush, and guard chips to minimise contamination.

• Pesticide method employs 8890 or Intuvo 9000 GC coupled to a 7010B triple quadrupole MS in EI-MS/MS mode
• Residual solvents analysis uses a 5977 single-quadrupole MSD with headspace sampling and EI-SIM acquisition
• Terpene profiling utilises a 5977 MSD via liquid injection with DB-Select 624 UI columns

Internal standards, matrix-matched calibration, and optimized sample preparation ensure accuracy and reproducibility.

Main Results and Discussion

The pesticide eMethod monitored over sixteen GC-amenable compounds in a 16-minute run, demonstrating accuracy and robustness. A Fast Five approach targets five key pesticides in 15 minutes for select US regions.
The residual solvent method quantifies 21 VOCs with action limits from 1 ppm to 5000 ppm, achieving stringent California thresholds.
Terpene analysis covers 40 volatile compounds across mono- and sesquiterpenes, revealing strain-specific aromatic profiles.

Benefits and Practical Applications

• Regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions supported by eMethods
• Reduced method development time through prevalidated parameters and consumable recommendations
• Compact system footprint suited to busy QC labs
• Robust sample handling preventing cross contamination of cannabinoids

Future Trends and Opportunities

Integration of high-throughput autosamplers and laboratory informatics will streamline data workflows. Continuous expansion of analyte panels may include mycotoxins, heavy metals, and novel cannabinoids. Portable GC/MS platforms could enable field testing. Applications in cannabis breeding and product authentication are emerging areas.

Conclusion

Agilent GC/MS eMethods deliver rapid, reliable cannabis testing across pesticides, residual solvents, and terpenes. Preconfigured instrument settings and consumables accelerate implementation while ensuring data integrity, supporting laboratories to meet evolving regulatory demands and quality standards.

References

• Application Note 5994-2032EN Terpenes Analysis in Cannabis Products by Liquid Injection
• Application Note 5994-1926EN Novel Residual Solvents Analysis with Headspace GC/MS
• Application Note 5994-1786EN Analysis of Twenty-Seven GC-Amenable Pesticides with the 8890/7010B GC/MS/MS
• Application Note 5994-1604EN Challenging Pesticides Analysis with the Intuvo 9000-7010 GC/MS/MS
• Ordering Guide 5994-4210EN Residual Solvents
• Ordering Guide 5994-4211EN Terpenes
• Ordering Guide 5994-3517EN Pesticides