In this instructional video, Mark Gillilan explains key acronyms found on cannabidiol (CBD) Certificate of Analysis (COA) lab reports—specifically LOD (Limit of Detection) and LOQ (Limit of Quantification). He defines each term, provides concrete numeric examples from his own broad‑spectrum brand (Kyoto Botanicals), and clarifies how the laboratory equipment’s sensitivity determines whether a compound can be reported as simply present/absent (LOD) or quantified at a specific concentration (LOQ). Gillilan emphasizes that for consumers seeking broad‑spectrum products, a low LOD is crucial because it ensures detection of trace intoxicating cannabinoids at levels as low as 0.00002% (≈2 ppm). He also notes that the same LOD/LOQ concepts apply to other tested analytes such as pesticides, heavy metals, and residual solvents, and advises viewers to locate the LOD column on a COA and verify that the values are sufficiently low before purchasing.
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It's acronym fun day today. Talking CBD, COA, LOD, LOQ. Time for school. So lab reports are a really important part of this category, and I'm going to talk about— you've got an LOD and an LOQ for all of the different cannabinoids on the lab report. Should be a big long list of maybe a dozen of them, maybe 2 dozen of them depending on what it is. The 2 big ones are LOD and LOQ, and those are Limit of detection and limit of quantification, because they tell you what the laboratory equipment can measure. As a broad spectrum brand here at Kyoto Botanicals, I really focus on limit of detection. So ours for the intoxicating compounds at our lab, ours are 0.002 milligrams per gram for limit of detection. So that comes out to 0.000 0.00002%. What that means is that laboratory test, the test for that compound, will be able to give a binary yes/no. That compound is present or not present in this product. We do all of our products broad spectrum. Having a clear mind is super important to me, so being able to say down to a level of confidence of 0.00002% Which I think is 2 parts per million, is really important. The other number, which is going to be a little bit higher than LOD, is LOQ. So that's a limit of quantification. The equipment is sensitive down to a binary yes/no to a certain level, and then it's sensitive down to the limit of quantification where it can say yes, it's been detected, and yes, what it's detected has been at a level high enough. that the machine can actually tell you what the level is of that compound. So for our products, I think the limit of quantification at our lab is 0.012 milligrams per gram. So you can see a couple, what, an order of magnitude or 2 above the limit of detection. So we, ours don't show anything in LOD or LOQ. So those are the 2 big numbers you really need to be aware of. Those 2 numbers, Especially if you're looking for a broad spectrum product, you really want to look at that limit of detection and make sure that that number is really small so you know that the lab equipment is sensitive enough to be able to detect it at really low levels. Same LOD/LOQ applies to pesticides, applies to heavy metals, applies to residual solvents, all that stuff that the lab tests for. So You can scroll through real quick through a lab report now, look for the LOD column, see what it measures out, make sure it's very low, and that's it for CBD, COA, LOD, LOQ acronym time. Class dismissed.
