Buying CBD Holiday Gifts? Shoppers Told to Watch Out for Lead and Plastics

Many holiday shoppers are planning to offer their loved ones pain relief and relaxation through cannabidiol, or CBD, products this year, but the gifts could be dangerously tainted.

Low-level contamination with heavy metals and plastics in edible CBD items is "pervasive," according to a new study that analyzed more than 500 products. Researchers detected lead in 42 percent of edible products, while mercury was found in 37 percent and arsenic in 28 percent.

The research led by Hannah Gardener of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, along with two Colorado-based organizations, is set to be published in Science of the Total Environment this December.

Ross Anderson, a CBD formulation expert and COO of the Texas-based manufacturer Elevated Wellness, told Newsweek that impurities can infiltrate the product at nearly every point of production. The growing equipment, contaminated water, the use of pesticides and the extraction process can all introduce plastics and heavy metals.

Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet to back the cannabis industry, third-party testing for these contaminants is not required by law.

"You can make anything and put it on a shelf and sell it and not have to prove that it's free of impurities," said Anderson. "People have gotten sick off [some companies'] products and their doctors sent their products off for testing, and they're finding things like lead, cadmium, arsenic, different pesticides, solvents, old yeast, salmonella, E. coli, you name it."

These dangers can be avoided if customers purchase from companies that do full-panel testing, like Elevated Wellness—but most don't, said Anderson.

The warning comes ahead of a predicted spike in CBD shopping for the holidays. Last year, the U.S. saw a 17 percent increase in cannabis product sales during the week leading up to Christmas, according to the cannabis data company Headset. Sales in Canada rose more than 26 percent.

The more impurities there are in CBD products, the harder the body must work to detoxify itself, said Anderson. Heavy metals can leave people with nervous system disorders, skin lesions, kidney dysfunction or damage, vascular damage, birth defects and cancer. Monocytogene contaminants—such as mold and yeast—can cause fever, chills, nausea, vomiting and confusion.

Many people turn to CBD for its advertised medicinal qualities, seeking relief from a pre-existing illness. But those who use untested products may end up with a tragic result.

"What if someone's taking this and they have a damaged liver?" said Anderson. "Probably not a good idea to begin with because cannabinoids have to be detoxified. But nonetheless, let's say they're willing to risk it because they want relief. And we're feeding them something that's damaging their liver even further. It just doesn't make sense."