Harrow Creek Analytical
Certificate of analysis
Sample · not a real result
For analytical testing labs
Fix the instrument, the data and the LIMS behind every result.
We troubleshoot GC, LC and ICP-MS methods, automate the validation math, and get your LIMS producing the certificate of analysis your state requires. Behind the work: accredited methods for every required test, and lab software we build ourselves.
What we work on: GC · GC-MS · HPLC · LC-MS/MS · ICP-MS · LIMS · ISO/IEC 17025
Twelve cannabinoids, in the order a C18 column separates them. Select one to read what its peak tells a lab, or read all twelve →
CBDVA cannabidivarinic acid · 1.88 min · not detected
First cannabinoid off the column. Usually absent in THC flower. When it is present, its peak has to clear the solvent front before anyone can quantify it.
CBDV cannabidivarin · 2.09 min · not detected
The neutral form of CBDVA. Not detected here, which is normal for THC-dominant flower.
CBDA cannabidiolic acid · 2.59 min · quantified
The acid form of CBD, so total CBD = CBD + 0.877 × CBDA. A small peak in THC flower; on hemp it is the headline.
CBGA cannabigerolic acid · 2.75 min · quantified
The precursor the plant makes THCA, CBDA and CBCA from. Often the second-largest peak in THC flower.
CBG cannabigerol · 2.91 min · quantified
CBGA after decarboxylation. CBDA, CBGA, CBG and CBD elute within half a minute of each other, so a small drift in the mobile phase can merge them.
CBD cannabidiol · 3.08 min · below LOQ
Near zero in THC-dominant flower. The peak is there, but its signal-to-noise is below the limit of quantitation, so the certificate reports <LOQ.
THCV tetrahydrocannabivarin · 3.39 min · below LOQ
The propyl cousin of Δ9‑THC. Its shorter side chain holds less tightly to C18, so it elutes more than two minutes before Δ9‑THC.
CBN cannabinol · 4.61 min · quantified
Forms as THC oxidizes. A growing CBN peak says the sample is old, or was stored warm or in light.
Δ9-THC delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol · 5.82 min · quantified
The regulated compound. Fresh flower carries little; most of it forms when THCA is heated. Δ8‑THC elutes 0.18 min later, and the method has to keep the two apart.
Δ8-THC delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol · 6.00 min · not detected
Not detected here. Δ8 and Δ9 differ only in where one double bond sits. That makes them a critical pair: a method that cannot resolve them reports one as the other.
CBC cannabichromene · 7.26 min · quantified
Minor in most flower. It elutes 0.35 min before THCA, the largest peak in the run, so an overloaded THCA peak can swallow it.
THCA tetrahydrocannabinolic acid · 7.61 min · quantified
The dominant peak in THC flower. Heat turns it into Δ9‑THC, so labs report total THC = Δ9‑THC + 0.877 × THCA. The 0.877 is the ratio of their molecular weights (314.5 / 358.5).
Colorado, working with labs across the USWhat labs call us about
Sound familiar?In the lab’s own words
The week goes to reruns, retyping and hunting for evidence.
None of it is the work your analysts were hired to do. It happens when an instrument drifts out of control, when results travel between systems by hand, and when the quality system lives in too many places. Each one has a technical fix.
Find the one that sounds like your lab. That’s where we start.
“The GC-MS passes calibration, but the check standards drift and the reruns eat the week.”
The fix Instruments & methods
“Pesticide recoveries pass in flower and fall apart in gummies.”
The fix Instruments & methods
“Every validation report means a day of copying peak areas out of the instrument software into spreadsheets.”
The fix Lab data & LIMS
“Our LIMS can’t produce the COA the state wants, so someone retypes every result.”
The fix Lab data & LIMS
“The assessor is here in six weeks and the objective evidence lives in five different places.”
The fix Accreditation & compliance
What we fixThree headline offers, and a second path for new labs
Every result passes through three layers. We work on all three.
A certificate of analysis starts at an instrument, travels through your data systems and ends up in front of an assessor. Most of the trouble lives in the handoffs between them, so we don’t stop at one.
The instrument
Instruments & methods
Methods that validate the first time. Instruments that stay in control.
GC, LC and ICP-MS troubleshooting, method development and validation, and instrument selection, installation and IQ/OQ.
GC-FID · GC-MS · HPLC · LC-MS/MS · ICP-MS
Explore instruments & methodsThe data
Lab data & LIMS
Results move from instrument to COA without retyping.
LIMS evaluation and integration, validation data pipelines, and COA generation per jurisdiction.
LIMS · Validation pipelines · COA templates · Audit trails
Explore lab data & LIMSThe evidence
Accreditation & compliance
Walk into the assessment with the evidence already in order.
ISO/IEC 17025 readiness, state audits, SOP systems and training, contamination investigations.
ISO 17025 · State audits · SOP systems · Training
Explore accreditation & compliance
Evidence from the workEvery figure comes from our published record
~1 hourvalidation analysis, down from a day or moreValidation architecture for LC-MS, GC-MS and ICP-MS data.
When the software does the validation math, the lab decides sooner.
Peak areas, calibration curves and recoveries used to be copied into spreadsheets and checked by hand. The pipeline reads the instrument exports and produces the validation statistics, so a lab learns early whether to rerun, revise the method or send the report.
See the case studies- 0
- accreditations lostAcross every accreditation engagement.
- 3 months → 2 weeks
- ISO/IEC 17025 rescueA Michigan accreditation cycle: about three months of unfinished preparation completed in two weeks.
- 10+
- test categories validatedValidation packages accepted by state auditors: microbiology, potency, residual solvents, heavy metals, mycotoxins and more.
- 7
- jurisdictionsColorado, New Mexico, South Dakota, New York, Akwesasne, Michigan and the Caribbean.
The short versionPlays when you press play
What we do, in under a minute.
What the video shows
- The instrument. A check standard runs three times on an LC-MS/MS. The retention times drift, Δ9-THC and Δ8-THC merge into one peak, and four QC checks fail: retention time, resolution, check-standard recovery and baseline.
- The method. The method is fixed. The peaks resolve back inside their retention windows, and all four checks pass.
- The data. Each integrated peak area moves straight into the validation table, where recovery and RSD fill in beside it. ~1 hour: validation analysis, down from a day or more.
- The COA. The results fill a certificate of analysis, with one template per jurisdiction. 7 jurisdictions: Colorado, New Mexico, South Dakota, New York, Akwesasne, Michigan and the Caribbean.
- The audit. The ISO/IEC 17025 readiness checklist ticks through method validation packages, calibration and check-standard records, raw data linked to every reported result, the audit trail, COA templates, and SOPs with training records. 0 accreditations lost.
- Equilibrium Scientific. Instruments, data and LIMS. Book a 30-minute call.
The run data in the video is sample data.
Selected workAnonymous labs, published results
The engagements behind the numbers.
See all the case studiesA day of validation analysis, cut to about an hour
New labs burning runway needed validated methods for every required test. We supplied them, automated the analysis and targeted the retests, so reports went out sooner.
Lab data & LIMS · Instruments & methods
Read the case study~1 hourvalidation analysis, down from a day or more
Certificates of analysis without a LIMS subscription
A lab in Akwesasne paid for a LIMS only to issue COAs. We moved it to Google Sheets and Apps Script: enter data once, get a COA from a template it can edit.
Lab data & LIMS
Read the case studyThe Michigan rescue: three months of ISO/IEC 17025 preparation in two weeks
A Michigan lab faced its ISO/IEC 17025 deadline two weeks out, when two to three months of preparation is typical. We flew in, took over and got it across the line.
Accreditation & compliance · Instruments & methods · Lab data & LIMS
Read the case study3 months → 2 weeksISO/IEC 17025 rescue
Free toolsBuilt for testing labs
Try the tools before you call.
Look up your state’s testing rules, check how ready your lab is for an assessment, and read a certificate of analysis line by line.
See all the toolsMap of the 51 states and DC by cannabis program: adult-use, 25; medical, 16; limited medical (low-thc or cbd only), 2; no medical or adult-use program, 8; not yet known, 0.
- Adult-use25
- Medical16
- Limited medical (low-THC or CBD only)2
- No medical or adult-use program8
- Not yet known0
- Hatched: not verified yet0
Start the readiness check →
Ten questions, about two minutes. Your answers stay in your browser.
A fictional flower certificate, explained in 12 notes: ND against <LOQ, the 0.877 arithmetic, and limits that change at the state line.
Open the COA explorer →Who you’ll work withChemistry and software, since 2022
Ben Whaley
CEO, Equilibrium Scientific
- B.S. Biochemistry
- 8 years in the cannabis industry
- ISO/IEC 17025-accredited methods for every required test, developed personally
- Instrument installation and maintenance
Evan Brown
Senior Solutions Architect, Equilibrium Scientific
- M.S. Microbiology, Colorado State University (2017)
- Sterility laboratory technician, 2019–2022 (ISO 14644 cleanroom, regulated LIMS)
- Built GIMS, an open-source database and workflow platform, and the GIMS Compliance Relay
The chemistry and the software, in one team.
Most problems in a testing lab sit where the chemistry meets the systems that record it. Our CEO, Ben Whaley, holds a B.S. in Biochemistry and brings 8 years in the cannabis industry. He has installed and maintained the instruments labs rely on, and he has personally developed ISO/IEC 17025-accredited methods for every category of testing cannabis requires.
Evan Brown, our senior solutions architect, worked the bench in a regulated sterility lab and has built lab software ever since: a validation data pipeline, a COA generator, and GIMS with its Compliance Relay. Between them, a result is covered from the sample to the signed certificate.
More about how we work See Evan’s software at gims-project.net (opens in a new tab)
How it startsCall → assessment → proposal
Three steps, and you decide at each one.
No retainer to sign before anyone has looked at your lab. Each step ends with something you can use, whether or not you take the next one.
A 30-minute call
Free
Bring the instrument, dataset or audit that’s in the way. You talk with the people who will do the work, not a sales team. No pitch deck.
The readiness assessment
Fixed fee, quoted on the call · Written report
A written report of what stands between your lab and a clean result or audit, with each fix and the order to do them in. The report is yours to act on, with or without us.
A proposal for the bigger work
Fixed scope or ongoing
A fixed-scope project or ongoing support, priced from what the assessment found. Nothing starts until you’ve read it.
Start with one problem
Which instrument, dataset or audit is in your way this quarter?
Bring it to a 30-minute call. You’ll leave knowing what it would take to fix, whether or not we’re the ones who fix it.