About SC Labs
SC Laboratories California SC Laboratories Oregon SC Labs is an analytical testing laboratory. SC Labs does not cultivate, produce, process, distribute nor sell cannabis or cannabis products. SC Laboratories is not responsible for manufacturers who inappropriately use our label and will take legal action in cases where we deem our testing or our trademark have been misrepresented. With passage of the Adult Use of Marijuana Act in 2016, the State of California now requires safety and dosage testing of both recreational and medical cannabis and cannabis products. Under current Bureau of Cannabis Control Emergency Regulation Text (11/16/2017), the required testing will roll out in three phases starting with Phase I on January 1, 2018 and continuing with Phases II & III beginning in July 2018 and January 2019. The laboratory shall test each representative sample for the following: (1) Cannabinoids; (2) Foreign material; (3) Heavy metals; (4) Microbial impurities; (5) Mycotoxins; (6) Moisture content and water activity; (7) Residual pesticides; (8) Residual solvents and processing chemicals; and (9) If applicable, terpenoids. The current draft regulations require laboratory personnel to perform representative sampling for all regulatory compliance testing. SC Labs has leveraged our significant courier network to offer the most extensive sampling program in the business. We can meet your sampling needs where you need us, when you need us! We are licensed and prepared to perform your regulatory compliant testing to meet current and future requirements as well as perform individual tests for your product development under our research and development (R&D) testing program. We were one of the first California testing laboratories to receive ISO 17025 accreditation (which will be mandatory for cannabis testing laboratories under the new regulations) and we have tested more samples since 2010 than any other laboratory in the business. You can rest assured that SC Labs is your partner in providing defensible and reliable regulatory compliant testing to meet all your needs More information on California regulations can be found at bcc.ca.gov.
Mon – Sat • 10am to 6pm
100 Pioneer Street, Suite E
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(866) 435-0709
info@sclabs.com
Mon – Fri • 10am to 6pm
15865 SW 74th Ave #110
Tigard, OR 97224
(503) 272-8830
info@sclabs.com
Getting Started
SC Labs is excited to serve the cannabis industry in California and Oregon and have made the testing process easy to get started: email info@sclabs.com or call (866) 435-0709 to start testing today!
SC Laboratories offers all of our tests in either a regulatory compliant test panel, or as single tests via our R&D testing program.
Regulatory compliant tests:
- Intended to meet the testing requirements for cannabis or cannabis products as required by the BCC (California) or the OLCC (Oregon)
- Can only be purchased as a panel of tests
- Must have results reported to individual states’ track and trace system, Metrc, where they may be used to validate or disqualify batches as eligible for market
- Require cannabis sampling to be performed by laboratory personnel
R&D or QA/QC tests:
- Limited to internal use by producers, manufacturers, distributors, patients, etc.* to improve their products/processes
- Are not reported to the state, and are not associated with batches
- Utilize a smaller sample-size
- Includes the same tests used for regulatory compliance testing, but can be purchased a la carte
- Do not require SC Labs to perform the sampling
- California requires cannabis samples to be collected from a licensee’s premises by lab sampler/courier, or be delivered to licensed lab testing facility by an employee of the licensee (this does not pertain to products derived from hemp)
Both regulatory compliant and R&D testing rules vary by state, so please speak with your customer service representative for more information.
Under current California Bureau of Cannabis Control Emergency Regulation Text (11/16/2017), all regulatory compliant test samples in California must be taken by an employee of the testing laboratory using validated methods to ensure that the sample is representative of the larger batch.
Under current Business and Professions Code (BPC) 26104 and specific to QA/QC or R&D testing for cannabis (not hemp), all samples submitted to the testing laboratory by licensees must either be collected from the distributer’s premises by the lab sampler/courier, or be delivered to the licensed lab facility by an employee of the licensee.
In Oregon, an agent of the testing laboratory must also perform the sampling for regulatory compliant tests, however, the producer may bring the batch to the laboratory for sampling. SC Labs’ well-trained staff of professional field technicians can collect your cannabis sample throughout Oregon and California and will make sampling an efficient and enjoyable part of your process. Contact your account representative to schedule sampling.
What about customers that have non-regulatory samples to be picked up? We have couriers that cover the Bay Area, Arcata, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, Palm Springs, Inland Empire, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, Santa Ana and High Desert. In Oregon, contact us for information on submitting R&D samples. In California, we are also able to accept samples via certain third-party couriers as well. Your account representative will help you find the most efficient method of getting your samples to the lab.
Under current Business and Professions Code (BPC) 26104 and specific to QA/QC or R&D testing for cannabis (not hemp), all samples submitted to the testing laboratory by licensees must either be collected from the distributer’s premises by the lab sampler/courier, or be delivered to the licensed lab facility by an employee of the licensee.
As a reminder, all regulatory compliant testing must be sampled at your facility by an SC Labs field technician. Please contact your customer service representative to schedule a regulatory compliant sampling.
You can view more detailed instructions on how to prep and ship your samples to us here.
Clients can drop off R&D samples at the lab, or pickup options may be available to you depending on geographic location, please call to make an appointment.
Yes! Weedmaps.com is an important partner of ours and we work very closely with them to make sure the results of our clients’ tests are visible on their weedmaps.com page and to all their potential customers. We also offer the option to automatically link all of your test results to your weedmaps.com menu as soon as the test results are available.
We have changed how we schedule our intake of samples to provide our customers with a more reliable turnaround time even as demand for testing is expected to increase drastically. SC Labs averages under five business days turnaround as the standard with all tests.
Customers who want to use SC Labs “Tested” logo on the packaging of their products must perform and pass full regulatory compliant testing for each batch of product that is bearing the logo. There are no exceptions. Please contact your account representative for more information.
Use of the SC Labs “Tested” logo without express written permission from SC Labs is strictly prohibited. SC Labs makes every effort to ensure that clients whose products bear the SC Labs “Tested” logo adhere to our rules and protocols for use on their products, but hold no warranties or guarantees on any product bearing our logo nor any representations by the manufacturer thereof.
It is also recommended that consumers of cannabis products always request a Certificate of Analysis from the manufacturer, distributor or retailer to ensure that the product has been tested for safety.
We test cannabis flowers, concentrates, leaves, e-liquids/vape oils, crystallized isolates, as well as liquid and solid infused products such as coconut oils, tinctures and edibles. If you need a product tested that does not fall within this list, contact us, it is likely that we can test that too!.
SC Labs offers cannabis testing that satisfies Oregon and California regulatory requirements for cannabis and cannabis products safety testing. We test for cannabinoids, terpenoids, residual pesticides, residual solvents and processing chemicals, microbial impurities, homogeneity, moisture content, mycotoxin, heavy metals, filth and foreign material, and water activity.
I just set up my SC Labs Account! Now What?
Once your first batch of samples is logged in our system, your customer service representative will contact you with login credentials to your new client page on sclabs.com. Your new account will be set up the following business day after your samples are received. If your samples are received on a Friday or Saturday, your account will be set up that following Monday. Once you have your login credentials, you can log in to your client portal to view your results and customize your profile page.
We have a dedicated team of experienced customer service specialists on-staff to walk you through any issues that may come up. Clients are assigned to a customer service team member based on the region in which they live; we encourage our clients to get to know their representative, as they will be your primary contact with the lab and a great resource for information on testing. Should you ever have trouble reaching your personal customer service representative and need to speak to someone immediately, anyone on the customer service team will be able to assist you.
Once your first samples are logged into our system, you will be issued an SCL client ID Number in our Laboratory Inventory Management System. Your customer service representative will include this number in the welcome email they send you, along with login credentials to access your account on sclabs.com
Results are sent directly to your sclabs.com account. Once we receive your first batch of samples in the lab, you will be issued login credentials to access your “Client Page” on sclabs.com. Enter your login credentials on the sclabs.com homepage to be redirected to your client home page; here you will find your “Tested Samples” page. You will see a list of all your tested samples, you have a few different options for viewing your results:
- Simply hover over the sample name to get a pop-up box with an abbreviated report of your results.
- Click on the sample name to see a more detailed report of your results the concentration of cannabinoids present in your sample in both numerical and graphical form, identification and quantification of terpenes, and a breakdown of results for any other tests you may have ordered for that particular sample.
- From your “Client Home Page,” you can see a list of tested samples, locate the “Tools,” column along the top of the page. Next to the sample that you would like to view, click the arrow next to the word “select.” This will give you a drop-down menu of all the different features and/or tools we provide you when you sign up for your account. Select “COA” from this drop-down menu to download a PDF of your Official Certificate of Analysis containing you test results. You may now save or open this PDF to view your results, share these results with your associates via email, or even print out to keep on hand. This “Tools” section is also where you will find your labels, strain cards, QR code labels and more. Your customer service representative will walk you through all of these tools and features after you sign up for an account.
If you get an “access denied” error, check that your “caps lock” is not on, as your user name and password are case-sensitive. If you’re still having trouble, check to see that you are up to date with your billing. Sometimes our system will automatically block users if they have an overdue invoice with us. If that doesn’t fix the problem, please don’t hesitate to give your customer service representative a call and they will be happy to assist you.
You want to become familiar with your client page on sclabs.com. Here you can do so much more than just access your test results. This page is fully customizable and allows you to embed your logo, social media, and other profile information into the unique marketing materials we provide to you. The best way to understand how to navigate your client page is to jump on a call with your customer service representative. They will walk you through all the different features and make sure you know how to take full advantage of this special aspect of our service. We are adding new features on a regular basis and we want to make this portal as useful to you as possible. If you have an idea for new functionality for your client page, please don’t hesitate to let your customer service representative know. Your feedback is always appreciated!
Please call your customer service representative to schedule testing.
All regulatory compliant testing must be sampled at your facility by an SC Labs field technician. Please contact your customer service representative to schedule a regulatory compliant sampling.
BCC regulations states all QA/QC or R&D cannabis samples submitted to a licensed testing laboratory, by a licensee, must either be collected from the licensee’s premises by the lab sampler/courier, or be delivered to the licensed lab testing facility by an employee of the licensee.
These clarifications pertain only to cannabis and cannabis product testing and do not pertain to products derived from industrial hemp.
From your client home page, where you see your list of tested samples, locate the column on the right that reads “Tools.” Your samples automatically default to private. If you would like to make a particular sample public, click on the word “Private” to change to “Public.” Now, click on “Profile” from the menu on the left of your screen. Under your profile page, there is a link which reads, “Link to public profile page.” You can now copy that link and share via email with anyone who you would like to see your samples and results. Please note that changing a sample from private to “public” does not automatically sync your results to your WeedMaps menu. If you would like this newly-public result displayed on WeedMaps, simply email postings@sclabs.com with the relevant information.
From your “Client Home Page,” where you see your list of tested samples, locate the column reading “Tools,” along the top of the page. Next to the sample for which you would like to print labels, click the arrow next to the word “Select.” This will give you a drop-down menu of all the different features and/or tools we provide you when you sign up for your account. Select “Labels” from this drop-down menu which will download a PDF of labels for this sample. Open and save this PDF to your computer. You will want to purchase specific Avery labels from any office supply store, depending on what kind of printer you have. Look for Avery Label Template 5160 for laser printers and Avery Label Template 8160 for Inkjet printers. You also have the option to print out just the QR scan-code associated with your individual samples. To do this, click the arrow next to “Select” under the “Tools” column on your “Tested Samples” page. This will give you a drop-down menu of all the different features and / or tools we provide you when you sign up for your account. Select “QR Code” from this drop-down menu to download a PDF of QR Codes for this particular sample. Open and save this PDF to your computer. To print your QR Codes, you will want to purchase Avery Square Labels Template 22805.
We encourage our clients to take advantage of our labels by placing them on their product. This allows your buyers to see the name/strain of your product, date tested, as well as percentages for total cannabinoids and terpenes. Labels also feature the SC Labs seal, as well as a QR scan-code unique to your sample which allows people to scan your product and be immediately directed to that sample’s result page on sclabs.com. Simply place one of these labels on the outside of your packaging for each product you are selling. You also have the option of printing out just a QR Scan code for your products.
Any one of our SC Labs customer service representatives is happy to help you understand your results. Feel free to call us at the lab and we will make sure someone is available to help you interpret your results.
The Science of Cannabis: Know Your Regs
With passage of the Adult Use of Marijuana Act in 2016 the State of California will begin requiring safety and dosage testing of both recreational and medical cannabis and cannabis products. Under current Bureau of Cannabis Control Emergency Regulation Text (11/16/2017), the required testing will roll out in three phases starting with Phase I on January 1, 2018 and continuing with Phases II & III beginning in July 2018 and January 2019. To be compliant with Phase I testing requirements, a producer would need to test each batch of cannabis products for cannabinoid levels, residual solvents and processing chemicals (partial list), residual pesticides (partial list), microbial impurities, moisture content, and homogeneity (multi serving edibles only). All phase one tests were mandatory beginning January 1, 2018. On July 1, 2018 Phase II begins. In addition to the, now mandatory, Phase I tests, each batch will need to be tested for additional pesticides and residual solvents and processing chemicals as well as receive an inspection for filth and foreign material. In January 2019, the rollout of Phase III adds four more tests; mycotoxins, heavy metals, and water activity will be required tests for all batches. Terpenoids will be a required test when producers make label claims involving terpene content. The current draft regulations require laboratory personnel to perform representative sampling for all regulatory compliance testing. SC laboratories has leveraged our significant courier network to offer the most extensive sampling program in the business. We can meet your sampling needs where you need us, when you need us! More information on California regulations can be found at bcc.ca.gov. Oregon regulations require independent representative sampling as well. SC Labs can arrange for sampling anywhere in Oregon to meet your testing needs. Please contact your customer service representative to schedule sampling! More information on Oregon regulations can be found at marijuana.oregon.gov SC Labs is offering both sets of testing beginning January 1 to allow those customers who would like to prepare for future testing requirements to do so now. Water activity is a little more complex in concept and is more a measure of the ‘availability’ of that water to support microbial growth. For example, foods with a lot of sugar or salt, like honey or bacon, will often have a comparatively lower water activity despite a higher overall moisture content and will resist spoiling compared to other foods with similar moisture contents. There are two ways to measure water content: Volumetric water content is a measure of the actual volume or area taken up by water in a solid material. Gravimetric water content is based upon the mass or weight of the water content in a material. One way to measure this value is to weigh a material before and after drying. This ‘loss on drying‘ can be expressed in multiple formats, typically either as a ratio or a percentage representing the portion of the solid sample’s weight that was water. SC Labs, like other cannabis laboratories, uses ‘loss on drying’ to measure cannabis samples. Water activity is defined as the partial vapor pressure of water in a material (cannabis, food, etc.), divided by the partial vapor pressure of water at the same temperature. Increased water activity values are indicators of increased likelihood of microbiological growth. Water activity values of over 0.7 are generally considered beneficial to support fungal growth while bacteria tend to proliferate at water activities above 0.9. Besides an indication of likeliness to support microbiological growth, water activity gives an indication of a substance, in this case cannabis’, propensity to absorb or release moisture from or to its immediate environment, allowing of use of this information for more precise long-term storage of cannabis products. The state of California requires all cannabis laboratories to attain ISO 17025 accreditation eventually. However, SC Labs considered ISO 17025 accreditation vital to ensuring our customers could have the utmost confidence in their test results and our quality control systems. We committed to ISO accreditation long before it was a requirement and obtained 17025 accreditation in 2017 for our cannabinoid assay. In 2020 our California laboratory was accredited for all regulatory/compliance panels as well as our sampling procedure, giving our customers even more peace of mind that their test results from SC Labs will stand up to scrutiny from any regulatory or other third-party entity. For R&D testing tests, the amount of sample needed is dictated by the requirements of the laboratory in providing accurate results for that assay. The amount required varies depending on the type of sample and tests required. Please contact your SC Labs account representative for more details. Table 1 Note 1: Represents 0.35% of Batch Wt. Table 2 Note 1: Minimum sample amounts vary depending on the tests requested and sample types. Please contact your customer service representative for your specific sample requirements. Oregon specifies the amount of product to be sampled for Compliance Testing as it is 0.5% of a batch of Usable Marijuana. For Concentrates and Extracts and Products, please see OAR 333-007-0360 for sample masses/volumes. Please contact lab directly for information on product needed for R&D testing
Harvest Batch
Weight (lbs.)Number of
Increments per
SampleTarget Sample
Weight (g)1
≤ 10.0
8
≤ 15.9
10.1 – 20.0
16
16.0 – 31.8
20.1 – 30.0
23
31.9 – 47.7
30.1 – 40.0
29
47.8 – 63.6
40.1 – 50.0
34
63.7 – 79.5
Cannabis Product
Batch Size (units)Number of
Increments per
Sample1
≤ 50
2
51 – 150
3
151 – 500
5
501 – 1200
8
1201 – 3200
13
3201 – 10,000
20
10,001 – 35,000
32
35,001 – 150,000
50
All Things “WeedMaps”
The best way to have something posted to your weedmaps.com menu is to email postings@sclabs.com. Sending your request to this email ensures that your message goes out to our entire Customer Service team, making this the fastest and most efficient way for our team to complete your request. Please include the following in your message to postings@sclabs.com:
