The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board and the Washington State Department of Agriculture announced they will team up to test for illegal pesticides on marijuana.
The two agencies will together work on pesticide enforcement, random testing, and testing when officials suspect illegal pesticides are being used, according to Komonews.com.
Under the agreement, the agriculture department will analyze an average of 75 samples per month, with a turnaround time for analytical results of 15 to 30 days, Kononews.com reported.
The agriculture department allows cannabis cultivators to use any of some 330 pesticides, as long as label directions are followed.
The department said it had found traces of undisclosed pesticides in many of the marijuana-growing products it tested. Inspectors tested 39 products and had results for 27, 15 of which had residues of pesticides that weren’t on the product’s label. That means growers could be using certain pesticides without knowing it.
