Lab Results
Report
How to Read a COA
Step 1 - Header
What to Look For
What to Look For
Consumers should check the report date to be sure that the results are recent and relevant.
Laboratory Name
Consumers should check the report date to be sure that the results are recent and relevant.
Brand and Product Name
Consumers should check the report date to be sure that the results are recent and relevant.
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Batch Number and Description
Consumers should check the report date to be sure that the results are recent and relevant.
Test Summary
Tested
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Tested
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Passed
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Passed
Passed
Tested
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Not Tested
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Passed
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Tested
Passed
Passed
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Passed
The Tests Summary section of the COA features the tests performed and the critical results at a glance.
What to Look For
Some brands test cannabinoid potency only, while others screen for terpenes, flavonoids, and contaminants like pesticides, residual solvents, and heavy metals. Customers should look for products that receive the full range of safety and potency tests.
Potency Results
After the summary section, Potency Results tell the customer precisely which cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids the product contains and how concentrated they are.*
*Note some Potency Results will include cannabinoids only. Terpene and flavonoid testing are optional.
How to read the results:
The Analyte is the compound that the laboratory test is quantifying. For potency tests, Analytes are cannabinoids (like THC), terpenes (like linalool), or flavonoids (like quercetin).
The Result column tells the customer how many milligrams of each Analyte are concentrated within every gram. Some results appear in milliliters if the product is a liquid or oil.
Customers may also see blanks in the Results column. A blank result means the laboratory did not detect statistically significant levels of the compound. ?? There should never be blanks its <LOQ which means its less than the “limit of quantitiation” or ND (not detected)
The % column converts each Analyte’s concentration from milligrams per gram to a percentage of the product’s weight. This conversion is another way to look at the same Result but is often easier to understand.
Quality & Safety Results
Quality and Safety Results consist of one or more of the following tests: Residual solvents, heavy metals, mycotoxins, pesticides, pathogenic microbiology, and moisture.
What to Look For First:
The Analyte column identifies the compound, in this case, heavy metals.
Consumers can see this product Passed all heavy metal tests by looking at the top right of this section. Still, they may want to review the specific results.
In that case, they’ll start at the Action Level column, which indicates the safe allowable limits for each analyte based on state and federal regulations.
The Action Level is measured in ppm or ppb. 1 PPM equals 1 mg/kg and 1 PPB equals 1 ug/kg. So if the Action Level is 500 ppm, the product can contain up to 500 mg of the toxin for every kg of product weight (If your brain is starting to hurt, just remember that 500 ppm is not zero, but it’s a teeny tiny acceptable amount).
Customers should see “<LOQ” next to every analyte that passed the screening in the Result column. <LOQ translates to “less than the Limit of Quantification,” which means the lab confirmed the contaminant was below the safe allowable limit.
Footer
In addition to the header, the COA Footer is integral to legitimizing the COA’s results. Signed by the third-party laboratory’s leadership team, the Footer lets customers know the organization stands by its results. It also provides laboratory contact information for customers that want to learn more.
Spanish Language COAs
Thirteen percent of the population speaks Spanish at home, earning it the title of the most common non-English language in the nation. In fact, the U.S. has the second largest population of Spanish speakers in the world after Mexico.
Regarding cannabis, 20% of young Hispanic adults and nearly 10% of people over 26 years old say they're daily cannabis users.
Yet many brands fall short of educating this diverse community in meaningful ways.
At ACS, we believe education is critical to ensure equitable access for all Hispanic and Latin American adults. As a result, we recently launched Spanish-language COAs for all hemp and cannabis clients and products nationwide.
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Services
Testing
ACS