With the legalization of hemp growth in 2018 and of medical and recreational marijuana recently in many states, innovative cannabis products in the form of vape fluids, tinctures, oils, gummy, bakery products, and dog treats have emerged to provide health benefits and other claimed therapeutic effects. Various cannabinoids such as delta-9 and delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or cannabidiol (CBD) are the main active ingredients in these products, which creates strong demand for effective quality control measures to demonstrate efficacy and protect consumer safety. Conventional analytical methods of these products typically involve solvent extraction of the cannabinoids followed by GC-MS or LC-MS investigation. Here we present the utilization of the Direct Sample Injection (DSI) technique alongside a Gas Chromatography with tandem Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS/MS), bypassing the cumbersome and often toxic organic solvent extraction and allowing for rapid and convenient analyses despite the challenging viscous sample matrices such as oils and butters. The DSI device has a glass tube that contains 2 μL of the sample which is inserted in the programmable temperature vaporizing (PTV) injector of GC. Multiple cannabinoids are routinely identified with MS library search. With DSI programming, the cannabis product can be directly heated to temperatures mimicking an e-cigarette, allowing for potential identification of thermal degradants that may be associated with vaping. The reliable detection of CBD and Δ8-THC in products like oils, rubs, and dog treats was achieved with an optimized DSI-GC-MS method coupled with simple solvent-free sampling. The method were used to quantify these two cannabinoids with external standard calibration of the integrated peak areas in extract ion chromatograms.

Detection of CBD and Δ8-THC in cannabis products using DSI-GC-MS/MS

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.