Hemp Heavy Metals: 254% Increase In Nickel Levels – 2019 Study

Hemp Heavy Metal Concentrations

This is a scientific guide.

Based on the latest medical studies.

• know exactly how hemp concentrates heavy metals pollutants
• learn how hemp can be used to clean up mining sites (phytoremediation)
• find out what you need if your hemp is grown in contaminated soil

Let’s get started.

2019 CBD Research

Heavy metals in hemp

New CBD Research Published August 29, 2019

Study Results:

• Hemp can clean polluted soils of contaminant heavy metals.
• Consumers of hemp should be conscious of where their hemp comes from since it likely concentrates contaminants from the growing environment. (1)

Our Summary:  This 2019 research into hemp and cannabinoids aimed to find out if hemp could be used to clean the environment in polluted industrial areas. (2)

Where: By growing hemp in areas of Pennsylvania polluted by coal mines the researchers aimed to find out if hemp could be used to remove pollutants like heavy metals from the soil. (3)

Types of hemp: Six different varieties of industrial hemp were grown:

• Fedora 17
• Felina 32
• Ferimon
• Futura 75
• Santhica 27
• USO 31

Procedure:

• The plants were grown in two different contaminated soil types and two different commercial potting soil types.  
• The plants were grown in two environmental conditions (outside and greenhouse). (4)

Evaluation:  Researchers conducted a heavy metal analysis of the plants for:

• Arsenic
• Lead
• Nickel
• Mercury
• Cadmium

Outcomes:

• Seed germination and growth rates were similar for all plants and all soil types however the plants grown in the greenhouse conditions did grow larger.
• Hemp grown in the contaminated soil showed Nickel levels 2.54 times greater than those grown in potting soil.
• Cannabidiolic acid levels were also greatly increased in the plants grown in contaminated soil. (5)

Conclusion:

• There was an “18-fold increase in the expression of the cannabidiolic acid synthase gene in plants grown on mine land soil.”
• The study concludes that hemp has a high tolerance to heavy metals. (6)

Learn more about phytoremediation and how hemp may be able to help clean polluted environments.

Download The CBD Research

Study Authors:

Husain R

Penn State Harrisburg

Department of Biological Sciences, Florida A&M University

 Weeden H

Penn State Harrisburg

Bogush D

Penn State Harrisburg

Deguchi M

Penn State Harrisburg

Soliman M

Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine

Potlakayala S

Penn State Harrisburg

Katam R

Department of Biological Sciences, Florida A&M University

Goldman S

Department of Environmental Sciences, The University of Toledo

Rudrabhatla S

Penn State Harrisburg

Keywords: Cannabis sativa; cannabidiol; hemp; heavy metals;

References

Husain R, Weeden H, Bogush D, et al. Enhanced tolerance of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) plants on abandoned mine land soil leads to overexpression of cannabinoids. PLoS One. 2019;14(8):e0221570. Published 2019 Aug 29. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0221570