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CBD Certificate of Analysis (COA)

CBD Certificate of Analysis (COA)

What is a CBD Certificate of Analysis (COA)?

A certificate of analysis is a report from a reputable (third-party) laboratory that lists the chemical composition of a product. A CBD COA lists the cannabinoids in a product that has been lab-tested and verified. In layman’s terms, it is a lab-backed report that says the CBD, and other cannabinoids in a product, contain the amount of CBD the company is claiming.

Why is a CBD COA Important?

With the quick and rising popularity of cannabis products, specifically CBD products, in the health and wellness industry, swaths of companies started creating CBD products to attract the growing consumer base. CBD COAs have become so important, because recent studies have found that many CBD products contain less CBD than advertised, and some cannabis products contain detectable amounts of THC. Therefore, CBD COAs have allowed consumers to be confident that the products they are buying have the amount of CBD they claim to contain.

Furthermore, CBD COAs provide the cannabis industry with specific industry standards, and bar them from falsely advertising how much CBD, and other cannabinoids, their products contain. Not only have CBD COAs driven up customer confidence in cannabis products, but they have also forced companies that would otherwise falsely advertise to drive up the quality of their products.

Another reason COAs are important is that they ensure that cannabis companies keep their THC levels within the federally legal range (.3% THC by dry weight). This is extremely important, because many individuals who are purchasing CBD products are intentionally buying the product for the CBD without the THC. Because THC is the main chemical in cannabis that gets people “high”, consumers who are looking for CBD want to be sure they are getting what the products advertised, and nothing else.

How to Read a CBD COA:

Opening a COA can be a bit overwhelming, if you don’t know how to read it or what to look for. We will break it down for you below:

  1. Check who carried out the analysis. It should be an accredited lab, not a company or manufacturer. Each sample has its specific certificate/report ID, which you can look into, in case there are disputed results.
  1. Look at the name of the sample to see what type of product it is, for example, “1000 mg tincture (50 mL)”, and what the sample is (oil, powder, gummies, e-liquid, etc.)
  1. Next, you’re going to look at the Table, and check where it lists “CBD”. CBD is usually measured in one of three ways:
  • Milligrams (mg) of CBD in the whole product- for this measurement, you don’t need to do any calculations, as you know how much CBD is in the entire product. If you don’t know how much CBD is right for you, read the label on the product, check the companies website, or online.
  • Milligrams (mg) of CBD per gram (g)- to find the total amount of CBD in a product that measures mg of CBD per gram, simply find how many grams are in the whole product, and multiply the amount of mg of CBD by the number of grams in the product to find the total amount of CBD.
  • Milligrams (mg) of CBD per milliliter (mL)- this measurement is mainly used for liquids like tinctures. Like mg/g calculations, simply multiply the total number of mL by the amount of CBD/mL to find the total amount of CBD in the product.
  1. You can apply the same method used in step three to calculate what composition of other cannabinoids your product contains, like THC, CBG, CBC, and CBN.
  1. Some, more in-depth analyses take heavy metals, pesticides, and fungi into account during their testing. If you are worried about health concerns regarding these substances, read the "Mycotoxin and Heavy Metal Analysis". Here are some important acronyms, and abbreviations to remember regarding this analysis:
  • ND - Not detected to the lowest limit of detection
  • - Concentration
  • µg – Microgram
  • Pbb- parts-per-billion
  • MDL- Method detection level - the smallest concentration of a said substance that can be measured with confidence

CBD Pillow: Our Third-Party Lab Testing

At CBD Pillow, we’re proud to tell you we've been analyzed by 3rd party independent laboratory Botanacor, an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) certified laboratory with years of analytical testing experience, independently audited and accredited by the American Association of Laboratory Accreditation.

You name it, we test for it, and we publicly show our results.

The results of this independent testing revealed our cannabinoid profile, which showed that our product (one pillow) potency was 170.2 mg CBD and 0% THC.

You can see our complete Certification of Analysis (COA) here.

Learn more about CBD Pillow here, and order your very own today.

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