Marijuana Business Magazine July 2019

July 2019 | mjbizdaily.com 85 2 Split and Weigh Samples Laboratory analysts split and weigh samples in the biosafety cabinet. The cabinet is designed to ensure the samples are not exposed to outside contaminants. Laboratory analysts split samples into Whirl-Pak bags. This is a common best practice because these bags are individually sealed and sterile. 3 Monitor the Environment The agar plate in the bottom right corner of the photo contains compounds and nutrients that encourage fungal and bacterial growth. If fungal and bacterial contaminants are present in the cabinet, they’ll grow on the agar plate. This quality-control measure shows the lab and its clients that contaminants are not present in the cabinet during sample processing and demonstrates aseptic technique was used by the analysts. Aseptic technique is a set of strict, controlled practices used to prevent contamination during microbiology testing. The laboratory also uses agar plates in the biosafety cabinets when no analysts are working there to ensure the HEPA filters are functioning properly. Lab Testing