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Environmental Impact of Cannabis Cultivation in California
Patricia Holden, Professor, Environmental Microbiology, UC Santa Barbara
Surface Water Emissions from Cannabis Cultivation Sites: Quantity, Quality, Toxicity, and Relationships to Farmers' Practices: Project Introduction and Trajectory
Overview of an ongoing multi-institutional research project answering foundational questions in CA's newly legal cannabis agricultural industry regarding cannabis farmers' practices and perspectives, dispensary product pesticide residues, and surface water and sediment quality--in relation to each other and in relationship to nearby conventional crop farms. Santa Barbara County is the model region. Methods include social science survey instrument design and administration, product analysis with assistance from the CA Department of Food and Agriculture, and field sampling with sample chemical and microbiological analysis.
Sascha Nicklisch, Assistant Professor, Environmental Toxicology, UC Davis
Environmental Impact of Cannabis Growth in California Freshwater Habitats
The anticipated large-scale production of legal and illegal indoor and outdoor cannabis cultivation in California represents a unique challenge to its freshwater habitats. An increase in indoor and outdoor cannabis production and consumption is expected to lead to a surge in the discharge of neuroactive substances and metabolites into the wastewater stream and ultimately the environment. These lipophilic chemicals include tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and THC-COOH, collectively termed as environmental cannabinoids. Passage of cannabinoids through the wastewater treatment system into surface water exposes freshwater ecosystems to these toxic chemicals. Another source of water pollution is given by runoffs from illegal cannabis grows, fueled by a still thriving black market of growers that use excessive amounts of often banned pesticides, including chlorpyrifos and carbofuran. These problems are further compounded during severe CA droughts and by the dramatic changes in water use patterns required for cannabis operations, including river, spring, and subsurface water well diversions, which can potentially lead to pollutant concentration and salt stress such as extreme salinity. However, data on the environmental fate and stability of cannabinoids and their metabolites discharged into urban rivers and streams is still scarce. In addition, levels of acute and chronic aquatic toxicity towards bioindicator species of ecosystem health, including native Californian fish species, and the effect range along the receiving rivers are poorly understood.