Acetone as Artifact of Analysis in Terpene Samples by HS-GC/MS

Cannabis-infused product manufacturers often add terpenes to enhance flavor. Meanwhile, labeling requirements for these same products necessitate testing for residual solvent levels. We have found that heating terpene samples containing an oxygen or air atmosphere results in the detection of significantly higher levels of acetone when compared to the same compound in argon atmosphere using temperature regimes common to headspace autosampler routines. This formation was statistically significant (p = 0.05) for most of the predominant terpenes found in cannabis. The largest increase in acetone formation was seen for terpinolene which showed an 885% increase in oxygen atmosphere (4603.6 PPM) when compared to analysis under argon (519.9 PPM). Cannabinoids were shown to reduce this formation and explain why high levels of acetone are not reported in cannabis extracts, even though these can contain up to 40% terpenes.