repost This is the $hit id worry about A controversial pesticide banned in Canada has been discovered in products sold by a federally licensed medical marijuana producer, The Globe and Mail has learned, but neither the company nor Health Canada have informed the public.
Myclobutanil, a chemical that is also prohibited for use on legal cannabis in Colorado, Washington and Oregon because of health concerns, was found in product recently recalled by Mettrum Ltd., a Toronto-based medical marijuana company.
The pesticide is not approved for use on plants that are combusted, such as tobacco or cannabis, and is known to emit hydrogen cyanide when heated. Lawmakers in the three U.S. states moved quickly to ban myclobutanil, in some cases enacting emergency legislation when they discovered growers using it.
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But the lack of public disclosure by Health Canada raises new questions about what controls are in place to ensure the product is free of contaminants and chemicals, particularly as the government prepares to introduce legislation to legalize the drug next year.
A Globe investigation this summer called into question the department’s ability to detect potentially dangerous contaminants, and revealed that Health Canada standards at the time did not require testing for myclobutanil and other banned chemicals.
The Mettrum discovery was made recently, when a random screening of the company’s products by Health Canada turned up the unauthorized use of pyrethrin, a pesticide derived from the chrysanthemum plant that is also not approved for medical cannabis.
Mettrum issued a voluntary recall of the affected products on Nov. 1 and said the pyrethrin was used by mistake, because it was not listed on the ingredients of a spray the company was using.
But when Health Canada performed further tests on the samples, it also discovered they contained myclobutanil, which all producers know is a banned substance. However, for reasons that are not immediately clear, neither Health Canada nor Mettrum announced the findings to the public.
Instead, on Dec. 1, Mettrum issued a vague press release saying that “as a result of further testing and working with the full co-operation of Health Canada,” the company was adding “a small number of additional product lots” to its previous voluntary recall. The company made no mention of myclobutanil.
It was only after The Globe was informed of automated phone messages Mettrum left with some of its customers, which made passing reference to myclobutanil during a lengthy recording, that a reporter called the company’s customer service line to inquire.
A Mettrum employee said the recall was due to a “nutrient spray” that mistakenly contained pyrethrin. “We just want to be transparent,” he said.
However, it was only after the employee was asked specifically if the recall also involved myclobutanil that he acknowledged the more controversial chemical had been found. “Yes, that was also included as well,” the Mettrum employee said.
When Mettrum was later asked why the company hasn’t acknowledged the discovery of the banned pesticide in a press release, the company said in a statement to The Globe that its plan to communicate only with customers was approved by Health Canada. The company said only “trace levels of myclobutanil” were found.