Rolling Paper Poisons

Have you ever given much thought to the rolling papers or wraps that you are using though? Well you may want to after reading this. A recent study by SC Labs California revealed that 1 in 10 rolling paper products from 118 tested contained potentially harmful levels of heavy metals and pesticides. The study was conducted on products bought from Amazon and smoking stores in California and included traditional paper rolling products, pre-rolled cones, hemp papers, cellulose rolling papers and blunt wraps.  The catalyst behind the tests was the fact that large quantities of pre-rolled joints were failing final analysis at SC Labs. The pre-rolls were testing positive for a dangerous pesticide called “chlorpyrifos” despite the fact that the cannabis inside the pre-roll had previously been tested and found to be clean of heavy metals and pesticides. Unlike many other “legal” states, California’s cannabis health and safety regulations are very stringent. Whilst there is no state which currently insists on the testing of rolling materials alone, California do insist on testing all legal cannabis products in their “finished packaged form” rather than just testing the cannabis itself.

The testing assesses the potency, purity and contamination of the cannabis product as a whole and is a great example of how the rest of the legal market should be conducting itself.  In this study, Cannabis products were tested for lead, Cadmium, Arsenic and Mercury as well as for 66 different pesticides and 5 mycotoxins. The dangers of exposure to heavy metals are many and include potential damage to the functioning of major organs including the brain, lungs, liver, and kidneys, as well as an increased risk of Cancer. SC Labs sample range was made up of 70 rolling papers, 20 wraps, 25 pre-rolled cones and 3 cellulose rolling papers. The results discovered that traces of at  least 1 heavy metal was present in 91 out of 101 products tested and that 8% of those, contained high enough contamination to fail rigid Californian cannabis standards completely. When it came to pesticides, almost 1 in 5 products contained some traces, with 1 in 20 having levels in excess of regulations!   The cellulose papers fared worst in terms of heavy metals, although after only testing 3 samples (all of which failed Californian regulations) SC Labs have said that they would have to do a further study on a larger range to clarify the results.

Flavoured blunt wraps and hemp papers came in next with 40% (8 out of 20) of those tested failing for high levels of cadmium, arsenic and lead.  A possible reason for this being the thickness of the product in comparison to regular rolling papers.  Traditional rolling papers and cones themselves did not do too badly, as although traces of pesticides and heavy metals were found, just one product was found to have levels of heavy metals high enough to actually fail the testing completely. Wondering how pesticides and heavy metals end up in rolling products? Well, rolling papers and wraps are actually derived from plants and those plants just like any others, are susceptible to absorbing any chemicals that are applied as fertiliser, present in the soil or sprayed as a pesticide. It’s not surprising at all therefore that rolling papers have been found to contain trace amounts of heavy metals and pesticides. It is more the sheer variance of those levels that is the worry. It also highlights the fact that perhaps more legal states should be following California’s example in testing cannabis products in their final packaged forms rather than just testing the flower itself. 

The message here is not to panic but just to be more aware of what you are using. The rolling paper market is currently worth 1.2 billion dollars and there are many unscrupulous firms who want to cash in on it by scrimping on quality to make more profit. This is not to mention the many fake versions of quality brands that seem to be in existence. Whilst the industry is largely unregulated, rolling paper manufacturers are required to list their ingredients, so pay attention, as whatever is in those papers or wraps is being taken in by your lungs every time you light up!  So what would my advice be to you? Well I would take heed of what the President of SC Labs, Josh Wurzer himself had to say “Would I personally completely stop smoking everything in a blunt wrap? No, but I would consider limiting how often I use them”.  “It seemed like regular old rolling papers were pretty clean” “Maybe I’d just switch to using those most of the time”