Pesticide Analysis FAQs with Julie Kowalski, Cannabis and Hemp Testing Consultant

Trace level analysis like pesticide residue testing comes with specific challenges and performing this analysis in cannabis can be a frustrating experience. Establishing a robust method can help mitigate long term problems but method criteria and performance parameters can be difficult to choose without the benefit of consensus methods and a long history of detailed published methods. It can be hard to know where to start with method fundamentals and how to experimentally determine performance. Luckily, the chemical contaminants community has developed excellent practices that can be used. It is important to understand fundamental criteria and options for determining performance because these directly impact the quality of testing and ability to meet regulatory requirements.

I often help people with pesticide testing in cannabis and will discuss some of the most important method criteria and performance experiments needed when establishing a pesticide method in your lab. This presentation will answer these common questions.

Presenter: Julie Kowalski, Ph.D. (onsultant at jkSS)

Julie Kowalski is a technical consultant primarily serving the cannabis and hemp testing market. She earned her graduate degree in Analytical Chemistry from Pennsylvania State University. Her professional experience includes troubleshooting, method development and validation for GC, GC-MS, LC, and LC-MS/MS in addition to pesticide residue analysis and chromatography method development. She worked at a technology provider for over ten years and recently served as Scientific Director and Chief Scientific Officer for a cannabis testing lab. She has previously served as the President of the North American Chemical Residue Workshop, served on AOAC Expert Review Panels, the Cannabis Scientific Task Force for Washington State and is currently chairing the AOAC CASP Chemical Contaminants Working Group.