A broad spectrum of testing services
Accurate and fast
Testing and R&D for recreational and medicinal clients
Services
Mandatory cannabis testing does not have to be intimidating, mysterious, or time consuming. Unitech services are designed to meet all state required testing – from potency to pesticides – with most results provided within a week. We will also work with clients on research and development, new product testing, while providing them the most current information on compliance.
Testing instruments
Unitech laboratory utilizes highly advanced Shimadzu equipment. Originating in Japan in 1875, Shimadzu has grown into the leading provider of cannabis testing products globally. Its Analytical Division is one of the largest manufacturers of instrumentation in the world. This machinery delivers the fastest and most efficient cannabis testing results on the market today.
Potency Testing
Our state-of-the-art Shimadzu instruments enable us to quantify concentrations of 20 cannabinoids and provide a comprehensive report for each product.
HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography)
The HPLC is an instrument for potency testing. It measures for target compounds such as THC, CBD, CBN, THCV. Identifying and reporting the amount of the cannabinoid profile of the sample is required for packaging and labelling of the cannabis product.
Terpene Profiling (partial list)
Assessing terpenes is important, as they play a critical role in differentiating the effects of various cannabis strains, with some promoting relaxation and others mental acuity. We identify 41 individual terpenes.
GC-MS (Gas Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry)
Terpenes give cannabis medicinal properties, smell and flavor. The GC-MS process uses gas (mostly helium) to separate a sample within the column, and ultra-fast analysis technology (UF-Sweeper) provides results with higher sensitivity and improved analysis accuracy.
Pesticides Screening (partial list)
We offer sensitive and comprehensive pesticide screening that can detect trace amounts of chemical pesticides in dried cannabis flowers, edibles, and concentrates.
LC-MS/MS Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry
The LC-MS/MS instrument detects a wide variety of toxic pesticides and allows us to issue reports that will help you understand your contamination issue and how to prevent it.
GC-MS/MS Gas Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry
The GC-MS/MS is capable of performing unprecedented quantitive analyses down to the femtogram. To ensure accurate and quick results for pesticide testing, we utilize both gas and liquid mobile phases.
Heavy Metals Screening
The cannabis plant is excellent at soaking up whatever the roots encounter; unfortunately, that means harmful heavy metals can be absorbed into the plant. Unitech Labs will detect heavy metals at concentrations as low as parts per billion.
ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry)
The heavy metals we test for are lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury, and this instrument helps ensure that your products are free from toxic concentrations of these metals. The ICP-MS method provides the sensitivity to measure low levels of these toxic metals without the need for additional sample preparation.
Residual Solvents
Residual solvents are leftover chemicals used in the process of extracting cannabinoids and terpenes from the plant. Comprehensive residual solvent screening is conducted using the most advanced Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry, along with a headspace auto-sampler.
Headspace Auto-Sampler
Our GC-MS is coupled with a Headspace Auto-Sampler maximizing the effectiveness of the GC to accurately identify trace amounts of residual solvents in cannabis products.
Microbial Screening
Exposure to micro organisms such as molds and bacteria cause health problems and can be particularly dangerous to people with compromised immune systems. Unitech utilizes qPCR technology for microbial safety testing.
qPCR (Real-time PCR System)
We will be using the Agilent AriaMX as our real-time PCR (qPCR) system. The AriaMx is a fully integrated system for amplification, detection and data analysis for microbial screening. It is a highly specific testing that searches for the DNA of harmful micro organisms resulting in almost non-existent probability of false positives.
Water Activity
The water activity of a cannabis sample is a measure of the amount of “free” water that is available for organisms to grow. Too high of a number indicates that a large percentage of water that can be used by microbes and therefore cause sample contamination.
Hygrometer
This probe system is very accurate and can detect down to 0.008 aw. The ability to handle multiple matrices along with the ease testing makes this the perfect solution to providing accurate water activity values.
Moisture Content
The moisture content of a sample is the quantity of water contained within it. This value in cannabis gives an idea of the curing process and ensures maximum shelf stability. Some moisture is acceptable, yet if too much is present the sample has increased susceptibility of contamination.
Moisture Balance
The moisture balance allows for uniform heating of the sample ensuring accurate results. Halogen heating elements allow for high throughput and quick turnaround time.
