Clash of the Titans: CO2 vs. Butane

Here’s a little blurb from the OrganaLabs website [which could use a tech writer to say the same thing in less scientific lingo] explaining the virtues of CO2 extraction vs. butane:

CO2 extraction or Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) is known for being the most effective way to extract beneficial essences from plant matter. This method is not only used for cannabis concentrates, but is also used to create pure essential oils and to strip out or separate different elements of botanicals. Popular products manufactured using this method are herbal essential oils, hops for beer, high value pharmaceutical precursors, and decaffeinated coffee.

Supercritical CO2’s high diffusion rates allow it to penetrate solids faster than a liquid solvent. Carbon Dioxide is a natural product, which leaves behind no residues. CO2’s purity is its biggest advantage over all other solvents used for plant extraction. Currently, a popular extraction solvent is butane, which can potentially leave heavy metals behind in your finished product.

According to Rod McKeever of Boulder BioPharmaceuticals, “there are four levels of butane that can be used for extraction.” That last activated brownie you tried – which grade of butane was used in the extraction process? You don’t know? It’s OK. Nobody does. Was it produced in a heavily regulated lab . . . or in a heavily unregulated garage? Well, no one knows that either.

Chances are your brownie wasn’t made with the lowest grade butane – or was it, there’s presently no way to tell – always available as lighter fluid at a 7/11 near you. Using low-grade butane for edibles and infused products is not illegal in Cannarado. Chances are that brownie wasn’t formulated with lab-grade butane, either. In the infinitesimally small chance it was, short cuts were undoubtedly taken in performing procedures regulated labs outside the MMJ sphere must adhere to scrupulously or be shut down.

So, you can pay your money and take your chances with activated products whose THC was extracted with who-knows-what, who-knows-where, or you can rest easy, sticking to products produced using a CO2 extraction process under strict laboratory conditions.