UK: Scientists Discover Heating Cannabis Oil With Blowtorch Produces Cancerous Toxins

Ron Strider

Well-Known Member
Vaporizing cannabis oil at high heats produces a known carcinogen, according to a new study.

This increasingly popular way of using cannabis, called 'dabbing' uses highly concentrated cannabis oil, and its potency has been the subject of controversy.

The Portland State University study found that when a 'dab' of highly concentrated cannabis oil was heated and vaporized at very high temperatures, the process produced benzene.

This is one of the first studies to confirm a carcinogen in any form of cannabis.

Using inexpensive heating methods that don't have temperature controls increases the likelihood that dabbing will produce benzene.

This means that people with lower incomes or lower levels of education are likely at greater risk of exposure, according to one of the study's authors.

Marijuana is now legal in 25 states and the District of Columbia. The once-reviled drug is now largely destigmatized, but the Portland State University (PSU) researchers warn that there are still plenty of unanswered questions about cannabis.

The use of highly concentrated butane hash oil in vaporizers - called 'dabbing' - has become increasingly popular, but the process used to produce the potent form of cannabis is risky, unregulated and may contaminate the cannibinoid with other substances.

Pressurized butane is sprayed over marijuana, acting as a chemical solvent to extract cannibinoids, the active ingredients in marijuana, including THC.

That process produces an oil, which is then heated to 'purge' the butane. The end result is BHO, or hash oil, or, affectionately, 'honey.'

The study calls the origins of BHO creation 'backyard chemistry,' which isn't far off; the process can be done using a hot plate.

This study comes after two people were killed in an explosion caused by the process used to make butane hash oil, a form of dab, in Portland, Oregon in July.

Researchers at PSU vaporized small amounts of the oil - 'dabs' - in the way a consumer might at home.

Chemical compounds called terpenes give marijuana its fragrance.

When the researchers analyzed terpenes that were vaporized at high temperatures they found benzene, a known carcinogen. They also found methacrolein, a relative to the carcinogenic chemical acrolein.

Even more worrisome, terpenes are becoming increasingly popular additives, because they intensify the fragrance that cannabis fans find so enticing. Dr Strongin says that consumers may want to 'cut back' on these additives.

This study indicates that the processes of making and vaporizing highly concentrated hash oil may carry with them 'significant amounts of toxic degradation products.'

The researchers found that dabbing at higher temperatures produced 'significantly higher concentrations [of the carcinogens] than were present in the ambient air.'

The study's co-author, Dr Robert Strongin, says that dabbing can be done safely, if the user controls and monitors the temperature that the oil is reaching.

Unfortunately, it's mostly 'poorer or less educated' recreational users that 'might just heat it too much' by using devices without reliable temperature controls.

Dabbing is sometimes done using using paraphernalia as simple as a large nail and a torch with no temperature control, like a creme brulee torch.

'People that can afford it can buy electronic nails, and that will mitigate any exposure to carcinogens,' he says, adding that he would not discourage someone using the oil medically and safely to stop doing so.

Still, the highly concentrated oil has not been the subject of much research and it's rapidly claiming cannabis market.

Dr Strongin says that one of the reasons cannabis and its extracts are so poorly understood is that 'it's more regulated right now for researchers than for users,' even in places like Portland, Oregon where he and his team are based.

Marijuana and its derivatives are still illegal on the federal level. Dr Strongin says that the National Institute on Drug Abuse is very supportive of cannabis-related research. Still politics and federal policy can be a sticking point in the review of drug-related study proposals.

A growing body of research has shown that cannabis can improve quality of life for cancer patients by helping them to manage pain and alleviate vomiting and nausea associated with chemotherapy. It's medicinal purposes have been the driving vehicle behind the movement to legalize marijuana.

Dr Strongin expressed concern that his study's findings could create backlash against the legalization movement for marijuana, but says he's 'neutral.'

'I don't want to influence the regulation [of cannabis], I just want to give people facts,' he adds.

These new findings of carcinogens in a cannabis extract are important reminders that 'it is imperative to study the full toxicology of its consumption to guide future policy,' Dr Strongin says.

Smoking_Dabs_-_Getty_Images.jpg


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Re: UK: Scientists Discover Heating Cannabis Oil With Blowtorch Produces Cancerous To

Hmm...

Vaporizing cannabis oil at high heats produces a known carcinogen, according to a new study.

If I were the author of this article, and cared about the health of cannabis consumers, I'd have made sure to include what that minimum threshold temperature is.

The Portland State University study found that when a 'dab' of highly concentrated cannabis oil was heated and vaporized at very high temperatures, the process produced benzene.

Worrisome, but not particularly surprising.

This is one of the first studies to confirm a carcinogen in any form of cannabis.

Err... I can remember reading about three that did. These were in regards to cannabis that was smoked (combusted, I mean). But - especially since there was no actual temperature specified here - I must assume that this scenario is the same concept - extremely high heat caused some chemical changes. IOW, it wasn't the cannabis itself which contained the carcinogens. Like frying a steak with the fire under the skillet turned all the way up, and smoking out the kitchen, more or less.

Using inexpensive heating methods that don't have temperature controls increases the likelihood that dabbing will produce benzene.

This means that people with lower incomes or lower levels of education are likely at greater risk of exposure, according to one of the study's authors.

I wonder if someone will use this to argue that we should be paying for welfare vaporizers?

The use of highly concentrated butane hash oil in vaporizers - called 'dabbing' - has become increasingly popular, but the process used to produce the potent form of cannabis is risky, unregulated and may contaminate the cannibinoid with other substances.

Relevant, in a tangential way.

Pressurized butane is sprayed over marijuana, acting as a chemical solvent to extract cannibinoids, the active ingredients in marijuana, including THC.

That process produces an oil, which is then heated to 'purge' the butane. The end result is BHO, or hash oil, or, affectionately, 'honey.'

The study calls the origins of BHO creation 'backyard chemistry,' which isn't far off; the process can be done using a hot plate.

Irrelevant, unless they are inferring (in which case, they should just come out and state it directly) that it's only this method which enables the carcinogens to be produced. And calling this form of extraction "backyard chemistry" is unnecessarily derogatory and - IMHO - stupid, because that's the safest location for performing an extraction with butane... No sparks :icon_roll . Now, if you were to call trying to do this in your kitchen, on the stove, under your electric exhaust hood without burning your face off and your house down, "backyard chemistry," I wouldn't get bent out of shape (even though I suppose the usage would be technically incorrect).

This study comes after two people were killed in an explosion caused by the process used to make butane hash oil, a form of dab, in Portland, Oregon in July.

Oh. Did the cancerous toxins (that get produced when vaporizing cannabis at too high of a temperature) cause that explosion? Because, if not, I don't see the connection. And my mind jumps all over the place. I suppose I could read about some worker at the Mint getting his hand crushed because he was too stupid to keep it out of the press when they were doing a coin run, and then turn around and perform a study on whether using change to pay for your burritos is more or less unsanitary than using paper money for the purpose. And it'd have about the same degree of separation :rolleyes3 .

Of course, my researching that doesn't seem at all likely to score me a free buzz. Okay, never mind, lol, I figured it out.
 
Re: UK: Scientists Discover Heating Cannabis Oil With Blowtorch Produces Cancerous To

Should have done this with CO2 oil also, to see if it was left over butane.
 
Re: UK: Scientists Discover Heating Cannabis Oil With Blowtorch Produces Cancerous To

True. All concentrates should be tested. I know the times that I have tried BHO extracts, I coughed like a banshee. They did do the job very nicely however.
 
Re: UK: Scientists Discover Heating Cannabis Oil With Blowtorch Produces Cancerous To

I never use butane to extract concentrates. Too many safe and cleaner methods such as water hash, ISO hash (use Everclear not ISO alcohol, ISO leaves impurities), resin press, dry ice, etc.
 
Re: UK: Scientists Discover Heating Cannabis Oil With Blowtorch Produces Cancerous To

If you want real research done with meaningful results, wait until the federal Gov't (especially the the deep south alabama nut job Jeff Sessions) allow the plant/drug to be studied. We need to get dna sequencing to look for pharma drugs, we need to let scientists have access to the plant and it's product for research. Until then, we'll keep getting half ass research like this. My personal favorite was the research that "proved" pot caused more acne and pimples back in the 70's.
No waste of research grants/equipment/time there.
 
Re: UK: Scientists Discover Heating Cannabis Oil With Blowtorch Produces Cancerous To

Here is the published study. They describe their complete methodology.

Thank you. While I figure the actual concept to be a no-brainer - torch anything nearly to carbon and it'll likely produce carcinogens, lol (e.g., charred beef steaks), I like to read studies about cannabis science whenever I can.

Should have done this with CO2 oil also, to see if it was left over butane.

Eh... If you burn butane, you get carbon dioxide and water (vapor). Unless you restrict the oxygen enough, of course, then you tend to get some carbon soot and carbon monoxide (less of either than you'd get crossing an intersection at a crosswalk when there is traffic stopped at the light, BtW, especially of one of the vehicles is a diesel).

That's why I shake my head when I hear - or read - of someone that doesn't like butane lighters because "they can taste the burning butane," LMFAO. (Zippos, OtOH, :rolleyes3 ... )

I never use butane to extract concentrates. Too many safe and cleaner methods such as water hash, ISO hash (use Everclear not ISO alcohol, ISO leaves impurities), resin press, dry ice, etc.

If one doesn't do the butane extraction in the presence of things such as sparks or open flames, the actual extraction process would be 100% safe. And butane boils at a low temperature, just 30.2°F (-1°C), so it's ridiculously easy to get it back out of the end product. And, while I would very much NOT count on some random can of butane purchased at the nearest convenience store being (+/-) pure, food-grade butane, in plastic-lined aluminum cans, free from manufacturing lubricants/etc. is. I have seen purity figures as high as 99.9998% listed - and that, my friends, is so pure that if you stick your "clean" finger into it, lol, it is no longer that pure.

There are several ways to do extractions, and most of them are viable methods. The main reason I don't recommend people go the butane route in online conversations is, well, one cannot guarantee the IQ of the people one converses with via the Internet, lol. And, while if I tried talking someone through such a thing - and they were of sound mind and at least reasonable intelligence - and they ended up, for example, burning their house down in the middle of Winter because they performed such an extraction inside instead of OUTDOORS... While that would in no uncertain terms be 100% their fault, I'd still end up feeling bad (I may be a grouchy old fart, but I'm not a sociopath ;) ). The words "You Have Been Warned" just don't seem to carry the weight that they once did...

My personal favorite was the research that "proved" pot caused more acne and pimples back in the 70's.

LOL, that's nothing. I forget who it was... This was back in the days when sailing ships were the most modern transportation we had. There was a scientist that observed Jupiter (inasmuch as this was possible to do back then) and decided that if there were aliens living on Jupiter, they'd get around by sailing. Made sense - to him - because, after all, that's how it was done on Terra at the time. Therefore, he reckoned that, since they must use ships, they'd need rope (rope being in much use aboard sailing ships). AND... Since the aliens potentially living on Jupiter "must" use a lot of rope...

...they must, then...

...grow hemp! :rofl:

BtW, you mentioned pimples. Had you told me, when I was just at that age when such things begin to trouble young males, that the real cause of pimples was making the beast with two backs, I might have given serious consideration to your words. After all, I started doing one at pretty much the same time that I started experiencing the other. And, yeah, adults weren't exactly plagued with acne - but, since they obviously weren't getting their ashes hauled at anything like the frequency that we were, lol...

I once read that the best strategy for getting money from our government to do cannabis research was to submit a grant proposal for a study that had as its (purported) goal to show some negative effect caused by it. I suppose that probably hasn't changed much since the '70s :rolleyes3 .
 
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