Pubdate: Thu, 06 Jun 2013
Source: Chico News & Review, The (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.newsreview.com/chico/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/559

WHAT ARE YOU SMOKING?

Pesticide Residue in Marijuana Poses Potential Health Risk

Health experts have raised concerns about marijuana contaminated by 
pesticides, including products sold through medical-marijuana 
dispensaries, according to The Huffington Post. Jeff Raber of The 
Werc Shop, a Pasadena-based lab testing marijuana from California 
dispensaries, conducted a study that found samples from Los Angeles 
contained pesticide levels at 1,600 times the legal digestible amount.

Pesticides detected include bifenthrin, diazinon and permethrin, as 
well as plant-growth regulator paclobutrazol.

The amount of pesticide a smoker absorbed depended on the method of 
smoking: A hand-held glass pipe caused 60.3 percent to 69.5 percent 
of chemical residues to be inhaled, while 0.08 to 10.9 percent got 
through a filtered water pipe.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom