BREWSTER – The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board issued a memo to 18 marijuana producers in Okanogan County on Thursday who are affected or possibly affected by contamination.
Recently, the Liquor and Cannabis Board identified a pattern of pesticide testing failures that point to product contamination in a specific region of Okanogan County. That region is in the 1000 block of Old Hwy 97 in Brewster.
Random testing of products from impacted locations detected levels of dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and many exceed action-warranted levels.
DDE is a remnant product of DDT, a pesticide that was banned in the U.S. in the 1970s. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, DDE forms when DDT breaks down. DDE has been known to cause premature births, type II diabetes and liver cancer.
The state says cannabis crops possess a unique vulnerability with respect to environmental contamination. Marijuana plants can absorb contaminants such as pesticides and heavy metals to a much higher degree than many other plants. This unique characteristic is a problem for producers growing cannabis. Cannabis that is concentrated into oils may concentrate any contamination by five to ten-fold.
The says its immediate actions on the 18 affected producers consists of: placing administrative holds on licensees in the affected…
