As the cannabis industry grows, so does the need to standardize equipment used to safely make the products consumers enjoy.
Delta Separations announced Thursday two of their extraction systems became the first to meet a new certification set by Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a subsidiary of UL LLC.
UL is an international safety organization approved to perform safety testing by U.S. federal agency the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the Standards Council of Canada.
In November 2019, the organization added a safety standard for plant oil extraction devices to its list of documentation for residential fire sprinklers, lithium batteries and tin-clad fire doors.
The CUP-30 device. Photo courtesy of Delta Separations
Extraction devices are responsible for concentrates in the cannabis 2.0 products Canada’s legal market began selling in December. But these complex machines are known to be volatile, in some cases causing explosions and serious fires.
To address concerns from U.S. and Canadian regulators, UL began working with industry stakeholders to develop a consistent set of requirements, according to Delta’s press release.
California-based Delta says its CUP-15 and CUP-30 extraction systems are the first cannabis extraction systems to be UL certified to ANSI/CAN/UL/ULC 1389 (Plant Oil Extraction Equipment for Installation and Use in Ordinary (Unclassified) Locations and Hazardous (Classified) Locations).
Read more: MediPharm Labs: ‘A leader in cannabis extraction’
UL is delighted the industry is proactively heading down a safer path, says UL VP of energy and power technologies Milan Dotlich.
“This represents a safety milestone for the industry,” he said.
Delta CEO Roger Cockroft said UL’s insight and professionalism has given his extraction company a clarity of vision unique to the industry.
“This has been no small task, but commitment to following these rigorous standards means we focus on our customer and put safety first,” Cockroft said.
nick@mugglehead.com
@nick_laba