Pennsylvania cannabis testing requirements

Required tests

• Potency
• Terpenes
• Pesticides
• Residual solvents
• Heavy metals
• Microbials
• Mycotoxins
• Water activity
• Moisture
• Foreign matter
• Other (see notes)

ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation

Required. An applicant must submit its most recent certificate of accreditation (28 Pa. Code 1171a.23(b)(4)), defined in 1141a.21 as evidence of compliance with ISO/IEC 17025 or other relevant standards, from a body that follows ISO/IEC 17011 and signs the international testing MRA. Losing accreditation is grounds for revocation.

Notes

• Rules: 28 Pa. Code Chapter 1171a (Laboratories), in effect since March 4, 2023; it replaced the temporary Chapter 1171.
• The Medical Marijuana Act (Act 16 of 2016, section 704, as enacted) requires a test at harvest and a test at final processing by an independent, Department-approved lab.
• Required tests (1171a.29(d)): pesticides, solvents, water activity and moisture, THC and CBD, microbiological contaminants, terpenes, heavy metals, mycotoxins.
• Microbials on the COA: total aerobic count, total yeast and mold, P. aeruginosa, Aspergillus spp., S. aureus, E. coli and Salmonella. PCR is not an approved method (1171a.29(e.1)).
• Mycotoxins: aflatoxins B1, B2, G1, G2 and ochratoxin A. Heavy metals: mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic.
• Pesticides: limit of quantification of 0.1 µg/g or lower for every pesticide (1171a.31(f)).
• The COA also reports foreign material (hair, insects) and conformance to the strain specification for odor, appearance, fineness and moisture.
• Other: stability testing at 6-month intervals through the labeled expiration period (1171a.26).
• Methods must meet or exceed the American Herbal Pharmacopeia 2014 cannabis inflorescence monograph (1171a.30(b)).
• In flux: Commonwealth Court declared 1171a.29(c)(1)-(2) (harvest testing before processing; process-lot testing by a second, different lab) invalid in June 2023. The Supreme Court remanded the case in September 2025, and the stay remains in place.
• Adult use is not legal. Senate Bill 120 (2025-26 session) would create a Cannabis Control Board; it sits in the Law and Justice Committee, with a discharge resolution filed June 29, 2026.