What are pesticides?

Pesticides are substances put on cannabis plants to keep pests and other organisms from destroying the plant. Pesticides are either natural or synthetic, but both can be toxic when consumed. 

Note: Most research on pesticides has been conducted on the effects of eating them, and we lack data on the long-term effects of inhaling residual pesticides on cannabis. 

What pesticides are allowed in cannabis? 

In California, a pesticide product can legally be applied to cannabis if the active ingredients found in the product is exempt from residue tolerance requirements, and the product is either exempt from registration requirements or registered for a use that is broad enough to include use on cannabis. 

The EPA sets residue tolerance requirements for each pesticide on each food crop, including cannabis. However, the EPA has not set any tolerances for pesticides used on cannabis because it’s still not federally recognized as a legal crop.

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has approved the following pesticides for use on cannabis: 

Can pesticide residue on cannabis make it into the bloodstream?

Yes. While research on the inhalation of residual pesticides in cannabis is still sparse, we do know that pesticides in cannabis end up in the bloodstream.

A study on pesticide residues in cannabis smoke tested contaminated batches of flower with four common pesticides – diazinon, paclobutrazol, bifenthrin, and permethrin. Researchers measured how much came through in the mainstream smoke of a glass pipe and a bong. With the glass pipe, smokers inhaled about 65% of the pesticide on the leaf and 50% from the bong.

The researchers behind the study wrote, “the portion of pesticide recovery is alarmingly high and is a serious concern.” But nobody knows precisely how toxic these pesticides are. We cannot say, “if you inhale X amount of permethrin, it will harm your liver exactly this way.” It is woefully under-researched.

Which form of cannabis poses the biggest risk concerning pesticides? 

Concentrates come with a more considerable pesticide risk than flower because the processes used to concentrate cannabinoids also concentrate pesticides. A 2015 study found roughly ten times more pesticides in concentrates than in flower. 

While concentrates pose a higher pesticide risk, some ways to extract concentrates provide a cleaner cannabis consumption experience.

Are there pesticide-free cannabis products? How can I find them?

With the lack of regulation, pesticide-free cannabis is something you have to seek out rather than being the norm. We recommend asking your local budtender, or you can buy from Clearly California. 

Clearly California follows the philosophy “the cleaner the soil, the cleaner the oil.” All of Clearly California’s products – including concentrates – test non-detect in every category of pesticide, chemical, micro-toxin, and heavy metal tested in California. 

If you need some help choosing a product to get started,we can help.