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According to a press release published earlier this month, the Bio-Rad iQ-Check Aspergilllus Real-Time PCR Detection Kit has received AOAC International approval. The test covers detection for four different Aspergillus species: A. flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, and A. terreus.
The detection kit covers those Aspergillus species for testing in cannabis flower and cannabis concentrates, produced with our without solvents. The PCR detection kit was validated through the AOAC Research Institute’s Performance Tested Method Program. They conducted a study that resulted in “no significant difference” between the PCR detection kit and the reference method.
The kit was evaluated on “robustness, product consistency, stability, inclusivity and exclusivity, and matrix studies,” the press release says. Bio-Rad also received approval and validation on the iQ-Check Free DNA Removal Solution, part of the workflow for testing cannabis flower.
The test kit uses gene amplification and real-time PCR detection. Following enrichment and DNA extraction, the test runs their PCR technology, then runs the CFX Manager IDE software to automatically generate and analyze results.
Bio’Rad has also recently received AOAC approval for other microbial testing methods in cannabis, including their iQ-Check Salmonella II, iQ-Check STEC VirX, and iQ-Check STEC SerO II PCR Detection Kits.
There are numerous plastic bottle and closure manufacturers in the cannabis industry today. And, there is a significant quantity of common bottle and closure styles as well. Many companies manufacture the same or similar products as their competition. But what if you’re searching for something different? Something unique that no one else has? A plastic bottle that will make your cannabis product stand out from your competition. Where can you find that package that is truly “something special?” Something that will elevate your brand?
It doesn’t matter if your cannabis business is a start-up in its infancy or a mature company with an established loyal customer following, creating attention-grabbing packaging is essential to your success. The packaging is the all-important and critical first impression. While the primary function of any packaging is to contain, protect and market your cannabis products, your packaging is a reflection of your company in the eyes of the consumer. In many ways, the package is the product. Using creative plastic packaging is a great way to differentiate your cannabis products from those of your competitors.
Finding the right manufacturing partner is the first step. Look for a company that has custom design capabilities and understands your vision for the perfect cannabis packaging.
When is Custom Bottle Design the Right Choice?
Sometimes, an off-the-shelf stock bottle and closure will work just fine. But if you are introducing a brand-new product that is unique to the industry, or if you are using a new product to introduce the fresh new look of your brand, it makes sense to develop plastic packaging that is distinct and eye-catching. You want your brand and products to look special and stand out on the shelf. There could also be filling equipment, regulatory, labelling, light sensitivity or other packaging requirements you must address as well.
Start every custom cannabis bottle project with a trusted manufacturer who thoroughly understands how you want the plastic packaging to look and the specifications it must meet. Ensuring that these qualitative and quantitative details are discussed will lead to on-time, on-budget and on-target custom cannabis packaging solution.
Achieving the Look You Want
Depending on your requirements, there could be several solutions to achieving the special look and specifications of your custom packaging. Discuss all of the design options that meet the needs of your product with your manufacturing partner; they should help you decide on the best direction for your packaging.
Selecting the right materials for your custom plastic bottle and closure is a big part of the process. Select materials that will provide the necessary aesthetics, chemical resistance, light transmission, bottle capacity and weight requirement that will protect your product.
Your manufacturer should also be able to guide you through the production process: should the bottle be blow molded or injection molded? Should it be made on IBM (Injection Blow Molding) equipment or EBM (Extruded Blow Molding) equipment? Answering these questions will ensure that the plastic bottle will be made efficiently and to the correct specifications.
Flawless Closure Integration for Your Cannabis Packaging
Designing the bottle is important, but you must also consider what type of closure will work best. Both items must be engineered to work seamlessly with each other. If the closure doesn’t work properly with the bottle, it can compromise the product it contains. Closures must always seal perfectly to ensure the integrity of the product inside. They must also be designed to function efficiently and meet the requirements of your filling operation.
A detailed CAD drawing should be provided, outlining every critical dimension of your HDPE or PET bottle and plastic closure. The CAD drawing provides the direction needed to create the manufacturing mold for your custom design. It also serves as a reference check to ensure that the product is produced according to your specs.
Ensure Quality through the Manufacturing Process
Ensure that your packaging partner has quality checks in place throughout the manufacturing process. Error detection systems, random sampling and testing will safeguard 100% conformity. It’s also important that manufacturers adhere to cGMP best practices and certifications under a globally recognized accredited program. This represents their commitment to continuously improving manufacturing processes and quality systems. It also helps minimize waste and manufacturing errors while increasing productivity. Risk of product contamination and other errors will be alleviated, and product efficacy and shelf life expectancy will be met.
Responsive Customer Service and Support
Many packaging manufacturers claim to provide exceptional customer service, but few actually rise up to that level. This is an important aspect of your project and you need to know that your questions will be answered and that your producer will keep you informed of any changes. Knowing that you can trust your supplier allows you to concentrate on other aspects of your business, like growth and profitability.
Reinforce Your Brand with Customized Packaging
In today’s competitive cannabis market, it’s more important than ever to have your product stand out from the competition. Your brand should help build awareness and develop consumer loyalty. When you deliver a consistently reinforced message, consumers will instantly recognize your brand. This consistency is a key factor in encouraging consumers to purchase your product over the competition — even when they want to try something new. Consistency makes your brand feel more dependable and people gravitate towards things they trust.
Your brand consists of more than just your logo and company name. Your brand identifies who you are, what your company stands for and the integrity of your product. Customized cannabis packaging will reinforce your brand and attract consumers to your products. Take time to find the right cannabis packaging partner who can help differentiate your brand and products from your competitors with special, eye-catching plastic packaging.
The journal Frontiers in Plant Science recently shared an important article from researchers at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, highlighting the “Pathogens and Molds Affecting Production and Quality of Cannabis Sativa.”
As a chemist focused on the science of preventing and mitigating mold in greenhouse and indoor cannabis grow facilities, this piece was fascinating to me. Like many others, it details and explains prevalent mold like Penicillium, Cladosporium and Aspergillus – things I see in grows every day.
But wait, there’s more fungi
The research and resulting article also brought up another type of fungi – endophytic mold. Endophytic mold usually lives symbiotically with plants, or is at least beneficial for both plant and fungi.
But not always.
In the past, the industry has believed that damaging mold spores were found on the outside of the flower. When moved, that flower would release the spores and send them flying – often creating massive cross-contamination issues for indoor grows.
“While cannabis is an incredibly powerful plant in terms of its medicinal properties, it is unfortunately highly susceptible to many pest and pathogens,” says Hope Jones, PhD, CEO, Adivina & ECS. “And it is this susceptibility that is so challenging to many inexperienced or undisciplined grow operations.”
Now, however, we know that there’s another culprit to add to the list: the inner parts of the plant can also be a source of endophytic cross contamination and mold.
Since it grows inside of the plant, this fungus creates high spore counts that can cross contaminate from outside, into the flower.
Treating mold in a facility
Here’s the good news:
This seemingly bad news – that there’s a new fungus to worry about, and it is inside the flower – may actually help cannabis grows struggling with mold, and those who are following the proper protocols already.
Effective mitigation protocols can include things like treating HVAC systems, controlling humidity, using products like chlorine dioxide to treat irrigation lines, enforcing protective clothing and shoe covers for employees, reducing the amount of in-and-out for employees around grow rooms.
These are important upstream and environmentally-focused integrated pest management (IPM) programs that will usually keep facilities clean and relatively mold-free.
But if these programs are in place, and there’s still an issue, Endophytic fungi may be to blame.
If you are having ongoing mold issues but have ruled out cross-contamination and a facility without proper protocol, look to the mother plant.
“Small mistakes in agricultural practices are amplified with cannabis,” Dr. Jones continues. “And today’s propagation practices of traditional cloning add to this vulnerability. Cannabis is an annual plant and by keeping mothers in a perpetual state of vegetative growth for years, and taking repetitive cuttings produces clones in a highly stressed state. This stressed state diminishes genetic potential and weakens a plant’s ability to fight disease and pests.”
Testing for and addressing endophytic fungi
If these concerns are ringing a bell, remember, there is also a way to test for Endophytic mold.
Checking cuttings from suspected mother plants over a period of time is the best way to see if the Endophytic mold is present.
A section of the mother plant cutting is placed into a solution (for example, as outlined by the article, a very concentrated hypochlorite followed by 70% Ethanol) that will kill all of the microorganisms that are present on the surface of the plant tissues.
From there, an unadulterated dissection of the internal tissues can be extracted and cultured for quantification and identification of endophytic fungi.
“Tissue culture offers a form of genetic rebooting returning the plant to its natural genetic potential and thereby strengthening its natural ability to defend against environment assault,” says Dr. Jones. “It also allows the breeder to conduct pathogenic disease testing which provides the entire industry with a higher level of scientific certainty and analysis.”
If you find this mold inside of the mother plant, your facility’s mold problem could be a systemic issue, not an environmental one.
If you do find that Endophytic mold is causing issues, of course, you may have to destroy the mother plant.
This should not mean the end of a strain. Tissue culture on a cutting is an option that can eliminate the unwanted fungi and save the genetics. Using those genetics to regrow a mother will start fresh and avoid the intrinsic mold that was plaguing the strain prior.
The practice of checking mother plants for Endophytic mold is not yet commonplace in cannabis, but the hemp business is leading the way.
They’re testing to create very clean plants, so you don’t have issues during cultivation.
Major growers in the U.S. could save millions in lost harvests with mold mitigation. If your current IPM program isn’t doing the trick, you may want to follow in hemp’s footsteps and look inside the plant.
I think that we need to start changing the terminology around the hazards associated with cannabis from food safety hazards to product safety hazards. These hazards have not only been associated with harmful effects for those that ingest cannabis infused products, but also for those that consume the cannabis products in other ways such as inhalation (vaping or smoking). So, when we refer to these hazards as food safety hazards, the immediate thought is edibles, which misleads cultivators, manufacturers and consumers to have a false sense of security around the safety of products that are consumed in other ways.
There are several product safety hazards that have been associated with cannabis. These hazards can become a public health problem if not controlled as they could harm the consumer, regardless of the method of consumption.
Let’s take a look at the different types of hazards associated cannabis:
Biological Hazards refer to those microorganisms that can cause illness to the consumer of a product that contain them. They are not visible to the naked eye and are very dangerous when their metabolic by-products (toxins) are ingested or their spores are inhaled. The symptoms for illnesses caused by these microorganisms will vary. Consumers may experience gastrointestinal discomfort (vomiting, diarrhea), headaches, fever and other symptoms. The ingestion of these pathogens, allergens or their by-products may lead to death, if the illness is not treated on time or if the consumer of the product is immunocompromised. In addition, the inhalation of mold spores when smoking cannabis products, can lead to lung disease and death. Some of the biological hazards associated with cannabis are: Salmonella sp., E. coli, Clostridium botulinum, Aspergillus sp. and Penicillium sp.
Chemical Hazards refer to those chemicals that can be present in the plant or finished product due to human applications (pesticides), operational processes (extraction solvents and cleaning chemicals), soil properties (heavy metals), environmental contamination (radiological chemicals) or as a result of occurring naturally (mycotoxins and allergens). Consuming high concentrations of cleaning chemicals in a product can lead to a wide range of symptoms from mild rash, burning sensation in the oral-respiratory system, gastrointestinal discomfort or death. In addition, long term exposure to chemicals such as pesticides, heavy metals, radiological contaminants and mycotoxins may lead to the development of cancers.
Physical Hazards refer to those foreign materials that may be present in the plant or finished product. Foreign materials such as rocks, plastics or metals can cause harm to the consumer by chipping teeth or laceration of the mouth membranes (lips, inner cheeks, tong, esophagus, etc.) In the worst-case scenario, physical hazards may lead to choking, which can cause death due to asphyxiation.
These hazards can be prevented, eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level when foundational programs (Good Agricultural/Cultivation Practices, Good Manufacturing Practices, Allergen Management Program, Pest Control, etc.) are combined with a Food [Product] Safety Plan. These lead to a Food [Product] Safety Management System that is designed to keep consumers safe, regardless of the method of consumption.
Cannabis legalization has taken the United States by storm, with 33 states approved for medicinal cannabis use — 11 of which are also approved for recreational use for adults aged 21 and over. With new patients and consumers entering the market every day, it’s more important than ever for cannabis cultivators to establish more effective methods for mold and fungal prevention in their crops and to ensure consumer confidence in their brands.
Today, many cultivators address the risk of mold and fungus growth by testing crops for contaminants at the end stage of production. While this helps to catch some infected product before it reaches the market, this method is largely ineffective for mold and fungal prevention during the cultivation process. In fact, recent studies have shown an 80% failure rate in mold and fungal testing in Denver cannabis dispensaries. By relying on late-stage, pass/fail testing, cannabis entrepreneurs also expose themselves to increased risk of lost crops and profits.
However, emerging sensor technologies exist that can test plants during the grow process, significantly reducing the risks associated with cannabis cultivation while increasing the bottom line for commercial grow operations. By leveraging data from these monitoring sensors along with environmental automation systems that are integrated with data analytics platforms, cannabis professionals can take a proactive approach to achieve the ideal environmental conditions for their crops and prevent against mold and fungal infestation.
Common Causes for Bud Rot in Indoor Growing Systems
Botrytis cinerea — commonly known as “bud rot” — is a pathogenic fungi species that creates a gray mold infection in cannabis plants. An air-borne contaminant, it is among the most prevalent diseases affecting marijuana crops today and can lead to significant damages, particularly when left untreated during post-harvest storage. Bud rot is one of the most difficult challenges cannabis entrepreneurs face: Once plants have been affected, only 2% can be expected to recover. This is because Botrytis cinerea can use multiple methods for attacking host plants, including using the plant’s natural defenses against it to continue infestation.
While difficult to contain, bud rot is very easy to spot. Plants affected with the fungus will begin yellowing, experience impaired growth, and develop gray fungus around its buds. Overall crop yield will be significantly reduced, leading to decreased profit for cannabis cultivators. The biggest contributing factors to a Botrytis cinerea infestation are as follows:
Humidity: Indoor grow facilities that maintain humidity levels in excess of 45% are breeding grounds for mold and fungus. These environments can become perfect conditions for mold and fungal growth.
Temperature: Bud rot typically thrives in environments where temperatures fall between 65- and 75-degrees Fahrenheit, which is why greenhouses and grow rooms are often the victim of such infestations.
Ventilation: Poor airflow is another contributing factor to Botrytis cinerea Without proper ventilation, excess moisture buildup will eventually result in mold and mildew growth.
Strain: Some marijuana strains are better equipped to fend off bud rot infection. In particular, sativa plants have a higher resistance to mold development than their C. indica and C. ruderalis cousins.
Controlling mold and fungal growth in commercial grow facilities is a top priority for cannabis cultivators. Not only detrimental to their profitability and crop yield, infected plants can pose serious health risks to consumers, especially for immunocompromised patients. Consuming cannabis products that have been compromised by bud rot or other mold and fungal infections can cause a wide range of medical concerns, including pneumonitis, bronchitis, and other pulmonary diseases. As a result, growers are required to dispose of all infected plants without the possibility to sell.
Bud rot isn’t the only culprit responsible for cannabis plant destruction. Powdery mildew, Fusarium, sooty molds, and Pythium all contribute to the challenges faced by cannabis professionals. In fact, a recent study conducted by Steep Hill Labs and University of California, Davis – Medical Center found that in 20 randomly-selected samples submitted for testing, all samples showed detectable levels of microbial contamination7. Many of these samples also contained significant pathogenic microorganism contamination. Without proper detection and prevention methods in place, these pesky plant-killers will only continue to terrorize the cannabis cultivation industry.
The Current Cannabis Cultivation Landscape
The data is clear: Current practices for cannabis cultivation are insufficient for preventing against mold and fungal growth. Sterilization and pass/fail testing do not identify the root cause of harmful infestations in plants, therefore leaving cannabis professionals in the dark about how to better optimize their grow conditions for improved crop reliability and safety. In order to prevent against damages incurred from mold and fungal infestation, marijuana growers must be more diligent in their grow condition monitoring practices.
Many cannabis professionals rely on manual monitoring to identify environmental changes within their indoor grow facilities. While it’s important to collect data on your operation’s essential systems, doing so without the right tools can be time-consuming and ineffective. Manual monitoring often relies on past data and does not illustrate the relationship between different systems and their impact on environmental changes. The goal is to assemble data from all the grow systems and create correlations on actual bio-environmental conditions during the grow process to compare to yield results. This is only available when an information management platform is synthesizing data from all the systems within the grow facility and presenting meaningful information to the growers, facility operators and owners.
Especially as the cannabis industry is expected to grow exponentially in coming years, growers need more robust tools for tracking and manipulating environmental changes within their indoor growing systems.
Leveraging Building Automation Systems & Data Analytics in Cannabis Cultivation
A powerful approach to prevent environmental conditions that are known to lead to mold and fungus growth exists in leveraging the data produced from your grow facility’s various automation systems. Most commercial cultivation facilities have multiple stand-alone and proprietary systems to control their indoor environment, making it difficult to not only collect all of this valuable data, but also to achieve the level of grow condition monitoring necessary for mold and fungal prevention.
With some data analytics platforms, such as GrowFit Analytics, data is collected across disparate systems that don’t normally communicate with one another, providing access to the key insights necessary for achieving environmental perfection with your cannabis crops. A viable solution collects vital grow facility system data and relevant bio-environmental monitoring data, and delivers this information in one, centralized software interface. The software then will apply analytic algorithms to develop key performance indicators (KPIs) while working to detect system anomalies, faults, and environmental fluctuations. The right analytics solution should also be customizable, allowing you to track the KPIs that are most important to your unique facility, and to achieve the vision of your chief grower. Ultimately, the software should serve up actionable insights that empower facility management and growers.
Collecting reliable data from different grow facility systems and environmental sensors can be a complex process and the information collected illustrates more than just what’s working right and what isn’t. By implementing an advanced data analytics solution, cannabis cultivation professionals can now be empowered to track minute details about their indoor grow facility, providing a safer, healthier environment for their crops and avoiding those environmental conditions that lead to mold and fungus altogether.
An ideal data analytics platform won’t simply collect data to be analyzed at a later date, and simple trending of sensor data is not enough. Information — especially in a commercial grow facility — is time-sensitive, which is why growers should select a system that offers real-time analytics capabilities. Some platforms offering real-time analytics utilize cloud computing, allowing for easy access from anywhere while also providing enhanced security to protect sensitive facility data. The most robust data analytics platforms provide detailed historical data for your entire crop’s lifecycle that provide a “digital recipe” to replicate successful crops, and fine-tune the process for continuous improvement.
Data analytics tools can also impact the bottom line by lowering operational costs. GrowFit Analytics, for example, was born out of a software solution designed to lower energy costs for large complex buildings like commercial grow facilities.
The data and insights provided can help identify opportunities for greater energy efficiency, which can lead to significant utility savings. Grow facilities operate 24 hours/day, with energy expenses representing one of the largest operational costs. With data analytics tools at their disposal, facility managers are armed with the information they need to improve system efficiency, increase energy savings, and improve profitability.
Eliminating Mold & Fungus from the Future of Cannabis Cultivation
By focusing on grow condition monitoring using data analytics tools, cannabis professionals can effectively eliminate the risk of mold and fungus growth in their crops. Leading data analytics tools make tracking environmental changes simple and easy to manage, allowing cannabis professionals to take a proactive approach to mold and fungus prevention. As we look to the future of the cannabis cultivation industry, it’s paramount for professionals to explore the technological advancements available that can help them address their business’ most pressing challenges.
You’ve survived seasons of cannabis cultivations, bringing in quality plants in spite of mold, mites, drought and other challenges that had to be conquered. Extraction methods are sometimes challenging, but you are proud to have a cannabinoid extract that can be added into your own products for sale. Edibles are just waiting to be infused with the cannabinoids, for consumers demanding brownies, gummies, tinctures and almost any food and beverage imaginable. You’ve been through the fire, and now the rest is easy peasy, right?
Actually, producing edibles may not be so seamless as you think. Just as in the rest of the food industry, food safety practices have to be considered when you’re producing edibles for public consumption, regardless of the THC, CBD, terpene or cannabinoid profile. Once you’ve acquired the extract (a “food grade ingredient”) containing the active compounds, there are three types of hazards that could still contribute to foodborne illness from your final product if you’re not careful- Biological, Chemical and Physical.
Biological hazards include pathogenic bacteria, viruses, mold, mildew (and the toxins that they can produce) that can come in ingredients naturally or contaminate foods from an outside source. Chemical hazards are often present in the kitchen environment, including detergents, floor cleaners, disinfectants and caustic chemicals, which can be harmful if ingested- they are not destroyed through cooking. Physical objects abound in food production facilities, including plastic bits, metal fragments from equipment, staples or twist ties from ingredient packages, and personal objects (e.g., buttons, jewelry, hair, nails.)
There are three main safety precautions that can help control these hazards during all the stages of food production, from receiving ingredients to packaging your final products:
1. Avoid Cross Contamination
Prevent biological, chemical or physical hazards from coming into contact with foods
Keep equipment, utensils and work surfaces clean and sanitized.
Prevent raw foods (as they usually carry bacteria) from coming into contact with “Ready-to-eat” foods (foods that will not be cooked further before consuming).
Keep chemicals away from food areas.
2. Personal Hygiene
Don’t work around foods if you’re sick with fever, vomiting or diarrhea. These could be signs of contagious illness and can contaminate foods or other staff, and contribute to an outbreak.
Do not handle ready-to-eat foods with bare hands, but use a barrier such as utensils, tissues or gloves when handling final products such as pastries or candies.
Wash hands and change gloves when soiled or contaminated.
Wear hair restraints and clean uniforms, and remove jewelry from hands and arms.
3. Time & Temperature control
Prevent bacterial growth in perishable foods such as eggs, dairy, meats, chicken (TCS “Time and Temperature Control for Safety” foods according to the FDA Model Food Code) by keeping cold foods cold and hot foods hot.
Refrigerate TCS foods at 41˚ F or below, and cook TCS foods to proper internal temperatures to kill bacteria to safe levels, per state regulations for retail food establishments.
If TCS foods have been exposed to room temperature for longer than four hours (Temperature Danger Zone 41˚ F – 135˚ F,) these foods should be discarded, as bacteria could have grown to dangerous levels during this time.
As cannabis companies strive for acceptance and legalization on a federal level, adopting these food safety practices and staff training is a major step in the right direction, on par with standards maintained by the rest of the retail food industry. The only difference is your one specially extracted cannabinoid ingredient that separates you from the rest of the crowd… with safe and healthy edibles for all.
Vintners have known for centuries that every step in the winemaking process—from cultivation and harvest techniques to fermentation, aging and bottling—has immense impact on the quality and value of the final product.
And that same level of scrutiny is now being applied to cannabis production.
As someone who has worked in the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) space for decades, I’ve been interested in finding out how post-harvest storage and packaging affect the quality and value of cannabis flower. After digging into the issue some more, storage conditions and humidity levels have indeed come into focus as major factors, beyond just the challenges of preventing mold.
I enlisted my research team at Boveda, which has studied moisture control in all manner of manufactured and natural CPG products, to look closer at what’s happening with cannabis once it leaves the cultivation room. There’s not a lot of research on cannabis storage—we checked—and so we explored this aspect further. We were frankly surprised by what a big effect evaporation has on quality and how this is playing out on the retail level.
We suspected moisture loss could affect the bottom line too, and so we did some number-crunching.
It’s well understood that the weight of cannabis flower directly correlates with its profitability—the heavier the yield, the higher the market value. Here’s what our analysis found: A mere 5% dip below the optimal relative humidity (RH) storage environment eliminates six pounds per every 1,000 pounds of cannabis flower. At $5 per gram wholesale, that works out to upwards of $13,500 in lost revenue—and that’s with just a 5% drop in RH below the target range of 55-65% established by ASTM International, an independent industry standards organization.
We also purchased flower at retailers in multiple state markets and commissioned a lab to test the samples, which revealed that most strains sold today are well below the optimal RH range (55-65%). Regardless of fluctuating wholesale prices, when you do the math it’s clear that tens of thousands of dollars in revenue are simply evaporating into thin air.
Why So Dry?
Historically, cultivators, processors and packagers have emphasized keeping flower below a particular humidity “ceiling” for a reason: Flower that’s too moist is prone to hazardous mold and microbial growth, so it’s understandable that many operators err on the side of being overly dry.
The misconception that cannabis flower can be “rehydrated” is another cause of dryness damage. But this method irrevocably damages the quality of the flower through trichome damage.
Those delicate plant structures that house the all-important cannabinoids and terpenes become brittle and fragile when stored in an overly dry environment, and are prone to breaking off from the flower; they cannot not be recovered even if the flower is later rehydrated.
When trichomes are compromised, terpenes responsible for the aroma, taste and scent of cannabis also can evaporate. Overly dried-out cannabis doesn’t just lose weight and efficacy—it loses shelf appeal, which is particularly risky in today’s market.
Cured cannabis flower can remain in storage potentially for months prior to sale or consumption. By the time it reaches the end consumer, much of the cannabis sold in regulated environments in the U.S. and Canada has suffered from dry damage.
There are various humidity controls available for cannabis cultivators: desiccants that absorb water vapor; mechanical equipment that alters RH on a larger scale; or two-way humidity-control packets designed for storage containers.
In the CPG sector, with other moisture-sensitive products such as foods and electronics, we’ve seen that employing humidity controls will preserve quality, and cannabis flower is no different.
Saltwater-based humidity control solutions with two-way vapor-phase osmosis technology automatically add or remove water vapor as needed to maintain a constant, predetermined RH level and ensures a consistent level of moisture weight inside the cannabis flower.
Here’s one more notable finding we discovered in our storage research: Third-party lab tests commissioned by Boveda showed cannabis stored with humidity control had terpene and cannabinoid levels that were 15% higher than cannabis stored without.
Cannabis stored within the optimal humidity range maximizes all the qualities that attract and retain customers. Similar to wine-making, when cannabis cultivators focus on quality control they need to look beyond the harvest.
In 1887, Julius Petri invented a couple of glass dishes, designed to grow bacteria in a reproducible, consistent environment. The Petri dish, as it came to be known, birthed the scientific practice of agar cultures, allowing scientists to study bacteria and viruses. The field of microbiology was able to flourish with this handy new tool. The Petri dish, along with advancements in our understanding of microbiology, later developed into the modern field of microbial testing, allowing scientists to understand and measure microbial colonies to detect harmful pathogens in our food and water, like E. coli and Salmonella, for example.
The global food supply chain moves much faster today than it did in the late 19th century. According to Milan Patel, CEO of PathogenDx, this calls for something a little quicker. “Traditional microbial testing is tedious and lengthy,” says Patel. “We need 21st century pathogen detection solutions.”
Milan Patel first joined the parent company of PathogenDx back in 2012, when they were more focused on clinical diagnostics. “The company was predominantly built on grant funding [a $12 million grant from the National Institute of Health] and focused on a niche market that was very specialized and small in terms of market size and opportunity,” says Patel. “I realized that the technology had a much greater opportunity in a larger market.”
He thought that other markets could benefit from that technology greatly, so the parent company licensed the technology and that is how PathogenDx was formed. Him and his team wanted to bring the product to market without having to obtain FDA regulatory approval, so they looked to the cannabis market. “What we realized was we were solving a ‘massive’ bottleneck issue where the microbial test was the ‘longest test’ out of all the tests required in that industry, taking 3-6 days,” says Patel. “We ultimately realized that this challenge was endemic in every market – food, agriculture, water, etc. – and that the world was using a 140-year-old solution in the form of petri dish testing for microbial organisms to address challenges of industries and markets demanding faster turnaround of results, better accuracy, and lower cost- and that is the technology PathogenDx has invented and developed.”
While originally a spinoff technology designed for clinical diagnostics, they deployed the technology in cannabis testing labs early on. The purpose was to simplify the process of testing in an easy approach, with an ultra-low cost and higher throughput. Their technology delivers microbial results in less than 6 hours compared to 24-36 hours for next best option.
Out of all the tests performed in a licensed cannabis testing laboratory, microbial tests are the longest, sometimes taking up to a few days. “Other tests in the laboratory can usually be done in 2-4 hours, so growers would never get their microbial testing results on time,” says Patel. “We developed this technology that gets results in 6 hours. The FDA has never seen something like this. It is a very disruptive technology.”
When it comes to microbial contamination, timing is everything. “By the time Petri dish results are in, the supply chain is already in motion and products are moving downstream to distributors and retailers,” Patel says. “With a 6-hour turnaround time, we can identify where exactly in the supply chain contaminant is occurring and spreading.”
The technology is easy to use for a lab technician, which allows for a standard process on one platform that is accurate, consistent and reproduceable. The technology can deliver results with essentially just 12 steps:
Take 1 gram of cannabis flower or non-flower sample. Or take environmental swab
Drop sample in solution. Swab should already be in solution
Transfer 1ml of solution into 1.5ml tube
Conduct two 3-minute centrifugation steps to separate leaf material, free-floating DNA and create a small pellet with live cells
Conduct cell lysis by adding digestion buffer to sample on heat blocks for 1 hour
Conduct Loci enhancement PCR of sample for 1 hour
Conduct Labelling PCR which essentially attaches a fluorescent tag on the analyte DNA for 1 hour
Pipette into the Multiplex microarray well where hybridization of sample to probes for 30 minutes
Conduct wash cycle for 15 minutes
Dry and image the slide in imager
The imager will create a TIFF file where software will analyze and deliver results and a report
Their DetectX product can test for a number of pathogens in parallel in the same sample at the same time down to 1 colony forming unit (CFU) per gram. For bacteria, the bacterial kit can detect E. coli, E. coli/Shigella spp., Salmonella enterica, Listeria and Staph aureus, Stec 1 and Stec 2 E.coli. For yeast and mold, the fungal kit can test for Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus terreus.
Their QuantX is the world’s first and only multiplex quantification microarray product that can quantify the microbial contamination load for key organisms such as total aerobic bacteria, total yeast & mold, bile tolerant gram negative, total coliform and total Enterobacteriaceae over a dynamic range from 100 CFU/mL up to 1,000,000 CFU/mL.
Not all of the PathogenDx technology is designed for just microbial testing of cannabis or food products. Their EnviroX technology is designed to help growers, processors or producers across any industry identify areas of microbial contamination, being used as a tool for quality assurance and hazard analysis. They conducted industry-wide surveys of the pathogens that are creating problems for cultivators and came up with a list of more than 50 bacterial and fungal pathogens that the EnviroX assay can test for to help growers identify contamination hotspots in their facilities.
Using the EnviroX assay, growers can swab surfaces like vents, fans, racks, workbenches and other potential areas of contamination where plants come in contact. This helps growers identify potential areas of contamination and remediate those locations. Patel says the tool could help growers employ more efficient standard operating procedures with sanitation and sterilization, reducing the facility’s incidence of pathogens winding up on crops, as well as reduction in use of pesticides and fungicides on the product.
Deploying this technology in the cannabis industry allowed Milan Patel and the PathogenDx team to bring something new to the world of microbial testing. Their products are now in more than 90 laboratories throughout the country. The success of this technology provides another shining example of how the cannabis market produces innovative and disruptive ideas that have a major impact on the world, far beyond cannabis itself.
Microbial contamination on cannabis products represents one of the most significant threats to cannabis consumers, particularly immunocompromised patients who are at risk of developing harmful and potentially fatal infections.
As a result, regulatory bodies in the United States and Canada mandate testing cannabis products for certain microbes. The two most popular methods for microbial safety testing in the cannabis industry are culture-based testing and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR).
When considering patient safety, labs should choose a method that provides an accurate account of what is living on the sample and can specifically target the most harmful microbes, regardless of the matrix.
1. The Method’s Results Must Accurately Reflect the Microbial Population on the Sample
The main objective of any microbial safety test is to give the operator an indication of the microbial population present on the sample.
Culture-based methods measure contamination by observing how many organisms grow in a given medium. However, not all microbial organisms grow at the same rate. In some cases, certain organisms will out-compete others and as a result, the population in a post-culture environment is radically different than what was on the original sample.
One study analyzed fifteen medicinal cannabis samples using two commercially available culture-based methods. To enumerate and differentiate bacteria and fungi present before and after growth on culture-based media, all samples were further subjected to next-generation sequencing (NGS) and metagenomic analyses (MA). Figure 1 illustrates MA data collected directly from plant material before and after culture on 3M petrifilm and culture-based platforms.
The results demonstrate substantial shifts in bacterial and fungal growth after culturing on the 3M petrifilm and culture-based platforms. Thus, the final composition of microbes after culturing is markedly different from the starting sample. Most concerning is the frequent identification of bacterial species in systems designed for the exclusive quantification of yeast and mold, as quantified by elevated total aerobic count (TAC) Cq values after culture in the total yeast and mold (TYM) medium. The presence of bacterial colonies on TYM growth plates or cartridges may falsely increase the rejection rate of cannabis samples for fungal contamination. These observations call into question the specificity claims of these platforms.
The Live Dead Problem
One of the common objections to using qPCR for microbial safety testing is the fact that the method does not distinguish between live and dead DNA. PCR primers and probes will amplify any DNA in the sample that matches the target sequence, regardless of viability. Critics claim that this can lead to false positives because DNA from non-viable organisms can inflate results. This is often called the Live-Dead problem. However, scientists have developed multiple solutions to this problem. Most recently, Medicinal Genomics developed the Grim Reefer Free DNA Removal Kit, which eliminates free DNA contained in a sample by simply adding an enzyme and buffer and incubating for 10 minutes. The enzyme is instantaneously inactivated when lysis buffer is added, which prevents the Grim Reefer Enzyme from eliminating DNA when the viable cells are lysed (see Figure 2).
2. Method Must Be Able to Detect Specific Harmful Species
Conversely, qPCR assays, such as the PathoSEEK, are designed to target DNA sequences that are unique to pathogenic Aspergillus species, and they can be run using standard qPCR instruments such as the Agilent AriaMx. The primers are so specific that a single DNA base difference in the sequence can determine whether binding occurs. This specificity reduces the frequency of false positives in pathogen detection, a frequent problem with culture-based cannabis testing methods.
Additionally, Medicinal Genomics has developed a multiplex assay that can detect the four pathogenic species of Aspergillus (A. flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, and A. terreus) in a single reaction.
3. The Method Must Work on Multiple Matrices
Marijuana infused products (MIPs) are a very diverse class of matrices that behave very differently than cannabis flowers. Gummy bears, chocolates, oils and tinctures all present different challenges to culture-based techniques as the sugars and carbohydrates can radically alter the carbon sources available for growth. To assess the impact of MIPs on colony-forming units per gram of sample (CFU/g) enumeration, The Medicinal Genomics team spiked a known amount of live E. coli into three different environments: tryptic soy broth (TSB), hemp oil and hard candy. The team then homogenized the samples, pipetted amounts from each onto 3M™ Petrifilm E. coli / Coliform Count (EC) Plates, and incubated for 96 hours. The team also placed TSB without any E. coli onto a petrifilm to serve as a control. Figures 3 and 4 show the results in 24-hour intervals.
This implies the MIPs are interfering with the reporter assay on the films or that the MIPs are antiseptic in nature.
Many MIPs use citric acid as a flavoring ingredient which may interfere with 3M reporter chemistry. In contrast, the qPCR signal from the Agilent AriaMx was constant, implying there is microbial contamination present on the films, but the colony formation or reporting is inhibited.
This is not an issue with DNA-based methods, so long as the DNA extraction method has been validated on these matrices. For example, the SenSATIVAx DNA extraction method is efficient in different matrices, DNA was spiked into various MIPs as shown in Table 1, and at different numbers of DNA copies into chocolate (Table 2). The SenSATIVAx DNA extraction kit successfully captures the varying levels of DNA, and the PathoSEEK detection assay can successfully detect that range of DNA. Table 3 demonstrates that SenSATIVAx DNA extraction can successfully lyse the cells of the microbes that may be present on cannabis for a variety of organisms spiked onto cannabis flower samples.
Consumers are largely unaware that most commercial cannabis grown today undergoes some form of decontamination to treat the industry’s growing problem of mold, yeast and other microbial pathogens. As more cannabis brands fail regulatory testing for contaminants, businesses are increasingly turning to radiation, ozone gas, hydrogen peroxide or other damaging remediation methods to ensure compliance and avoid product recalls. It has made cannabis cultivation and extraction more challenging and more expensive than ever, not to mention inflaming the industry’s ongoing supply problem.
The problem is only going to get worse as states like Nevada and California are beginning to implement more regulations including even tougher microbial contamination limits. The technological and economic burdens are becoming too much for some cultivators, driving some of them out of business. It’s also putting an even greater strain on them to meet product demand.
It’s critical that the industry establishes new product standards to reassure consumers that the cannabis products they buy are safe. But it is even more critical that the industry look beyond traditional agricultural remediation methods to solve the microbial problems.
Mold and other microbial pathogens are found everywhere in the environment, including the air, food and water that people consume. While there is no consensus yet on the health consequences of consuming these contaminants through cannabis, risks are certainly emerging. According to a 2015 study by the Cannabis Safety Institutei, molds are generally harmless in the environment, but some may present a health threat when inhaled, particularly to immunocompromised individuals. Mycotoxins resulting from molds such as Aspergillus can cause illnesses such as allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. Even when killed with treatment, the dead pathogens could trigger allergies or asthma.
There is an abundance of pathogens that can affect cannabis cultivation, but the most common types are Botrytis (bud rot, sometimes called gray mold) and Powdery Mildew. They are also among the most devastating blights to cannabis crops. Numerous chemical controls are available to help prevent or stem an outbreak, ranging from fungicides and horticultural oils to bicarbonates and biological controls. While these controls may save an otherwise doomed crop, they introduce their own potential health risks through the overexposure and consumption of chemical residues.
The issue is further compounded by the fact that the states in which cannabis is legal can’t agree on which microbial pathogens to test for, nor how to test. Colorado, for instance, requires only three pathogen tests (for salmonella, E. coli, and mycotoxins from mold), while Massachusetts has exceedingly strict testing regulations for clean products. Massachusetts-based testing lab, ProVerde Laboratories, reports that approximately 30% of the cannabis flowers it tests have some kind of mold or yeast contamination.
If a cannabis product fails required microbial testing and can’t be remedied in a compliant way, the grower will inevitably experience a severe – and potentially crippling – financial hit to a lost crop. Willow Industries, a microbial remediation company, says that cannabis microbial contamination is projected to be a $3 billion problem by 2020ii.
Remediation Falls Short
With the financial stakes so high, the cannabis industry has taken cues from the food industry and adopted a variety of ways to remediate cannabis harvests contaminated with pathogens. Ketch DeGabrielle of Qloris Consulting spent two years studying cannabis microbial remediation methods and summarized their pros and consiii.
He found that some common sterilization approaches like autoclaves, steam and dry heat are impractical for cannabis due the decarboxylation and harsh damage they inflict on the product. Some growers spray or immerse cannabis flowers in hydrogen peroxide, but the resulting moisture can actually cause more spores to germinate, while the chemical reduces the terpene content in the flowers.
The more favored, technologically advanced remediation approaches include ozone or similar gas treatment, which is relatively inexpensive and treats the entire plant. However, it’s difficult to gas products on a large scale, and gas results in terpene loss. Microwaves can kill pathogens effectively through cellular rupture, but can burn the product. Ionizing radiation kills microbial life by destroying their DNA, but the process can create carcinogenic chemical compounds and harmful free radicals. Radio frequency (which DeGabrielle considers the best method) effectively kills yeast and mold by oscillating the water in them, but it can result in moisture and terpene loss.
The bottom line: no remediation method is perfect. Prevention of microbial contamination is a better approach. But all three conventional approaches to cannabis cultivation – outdoors, greenhouses and indoor grow operations – make it extremely difficult to control contamination. Mold spores can easily gain a foothold both indoors and out through air, water, food and human contact, quickly spreading into an epidemic.
The industry needs to establish new quality standards for product purity and employ new growing practices to meet them. Advanced technologies can help create near perfect growing ecosystems and microclimates for growing cannabis free of mold contamination. Internet of Things sensors combined with AI-driven robotics and automation can dramatically reduce human intervention in the growing process, along with human-induced contamination. Natural sunlight supplemented with new lighting technologies that provide near full-light and UV spectrum can stimulate robust growth more resistant to disease. Computational fluid dynamic models can help growers achieve optimal temperature, humidity, velocity, filtration and sanitation of air flow. And tissue culture micropropagation of plant stock can eliminate virus and pathogen threats, to name just a few of the latest innovations.
Growing legal cannabis today is a risky business that can cost growers millions of dollars if pathogens contaminate a crop. Remediation methods to remove microbial contamination may work to varying degrees, but they introduce another set of problems that can impact consumer health and comprise product quality.
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Thank you, Jon!
I got a sweet package in the mail the other day from R&R/Squid Fan, Jon Sloan… he sent me the original of his nifty Squid Row fan art toon* (which is quite in depth with the entire Squid Row Gang) and a copy of his book. Jon is a tooner, himself, and does the webcomic, Sa-Bom Jim. Thank you for the care package, Jon… and happy reading to ME!
*You can see the cartoon Jon did in the Fan Art page on the squidrowcomics.com site. Link below.

domain: artistic


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By Wesley Yin-Poole @ Eurogamer
Fancy Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered but not interested in buying Call of Duty: Infinity Warfare? You’re out of luck.
In a FAQ on Activision’s support website, the company confirmed Modern Warfare Remastered will not come as a separate disc. It is a full game download included in the Legacy, Legacy Pro and Digital Deluxe editions of Infinite Warfare.
Just to be clear, Modern Warfare Remastered is only available through the Legacy, Legacy Pro and Digital Deluxe Editions.

domain: game


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This month’s theme was all about pets and it posed a big challenge! Nearly every trip to the library involves checking out at least a half dozen animal related books.For this theme the books themselves became our activity.
Because I knew we couldn’t choose one I set the kids a library challenge. I asked them to make up a list of all the pets they could think of. We took our lists to the library and announced their task: Find a book that was about or featured each one of the animals on the list.Mini Piwi, 3.5, had a time searching for books on the ipad catalogue search spot the library recently installed. I was really proud to see Miss K showing her little sis how to find books using the Dewey system
We ended up with quite a pile!
Here are our favorites:
Valentino Finds a Home
The Mixed-Up Chameleon
10 Little Hermit Crabs
Ferrets (Animal Planet Pet Care Library)
I'm a Frog! (An Elephant and Piggie Book)
I have collected all our pet activities together you can check them out on our 'All about Pets' board.
Follow Piwi Mum All about Pets on Pinterest
Be sure to take a look at all the pet related fun linked up at the end of this post! This month the Poppins Book Nook bloggers are giving away a copy of a National Geographic Animal Encyclopedia!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

domain: hobby


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2017 Prize Winner:
Alan Krueger, Princeton Professor, Economist, and Former Chairman of President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers
Workers in an "Uber" Economy: What Role Should Public Policy Play?
The Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize was created by The American Academy of Political and Social Science in 2007 to pay tribute to one of its most distinguished Fellows, the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Honoring his legacy, the Prize was created to recognize social scientists, public officials, and civic leaders who champion the use of informed judgment to advance the public good.
Formal invitation to follow.

domain: economics


U.S. president Donald Trump levied a 10% tariff on roughly $200bn of imports from China today, escalating the ongoing trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
Trump said the tariffs will begin at a level of 10 percent on September 24, and will increase to 25 percent on January 1.
President Trump has announced tariffs on a further US$200 billion (NZ$304b) of Chinese imports from next week.
Sohn said he thinks that China will retaliate against every US tariff and that the back-and-forth sparring will escalate until the United States is taxing all Chinese imports – $524 billion a year ago.
But demand for Chinese products on American soil has persisted amid rising tensions: the latest census data, released Wednesday, showed the USA goods deficit with China this year has grown about eight percent to $234 billion from the same time last year.
The administration’s proposal for the tariffs on US$200 billion (S$247 billion) of products drew protest from technology companies earlier this year, but the final list of taxed devices described by the official avoids many big consumer brand names and products. This has raised concerns that China could retaliate with non-tariff trade measures. However, because China exports more to the United States than it imports there are limits on the amount of tariffs Beijing can impose on American goods.
But China said it would turn down the offer if the United States went ahead with more tariffs, CNN said.
China will reject new trade talks if President Donald Trump moves ahead with the next round of US tariffs on Chinese products, throwing into doubt the prospect of a diplomatic breakthrough, according to two people familiar with the matter. Some companies are looking to move out of China to dodge the tariffs, said Ted Murphy, a partner at the Baker McKenzie law firm.
While there are measures China can take to retaliate, it is limited by the imbalance between its exports to the United States and its imports from the U.S., which amount to only about $US130 billion a year.
The firms are anxious the tariffs will increase their costs since many of their products are manufactured in China.
US President Donald Trump holds his signed memorandum on intellectual property tariffs on high-tech goods from China, at the White House in Washington on March 22, 2018.
When Cohn tried, using data and history, to argue against Trump’s conviction that trade deficits with other countries made the United States the loser, the book reports Trump as saying: “I know I’m right”.
In fact, tariffs are taxes that are paid by Americans who import goods from overseas. These tariffs are on top of current duties on bike imports.
The taxes will take effect from 24 September, starting at 10% and increasing to 25% from the start of next year unless the two countries agree a deal.
The BBC’s Asia business correspondent Karishma Vaswani said the escalating trade war between the two countries is in part due to a lack of understanding of the other’s position. The price of washing machines in the U.S.
“Most of our member companies are “in China, for China” – selling goods to Chinese companies and consumers, not to Americans – and thus ultimately boosting the USA economy”, Jarrett said.
“Attempts to help those hurt by globalisation via higher tariffs or other forms of protectionism, even if well-meaning, will raise prices and hurt all consumers, especially poor and middle-class families”, said economist Satyam Panday of S&P Global Ratings.
The short time frame before the tariffs take effect means that suppliers will face an unexpected 10 percent charge on imports that are already in transit but arrive after next Sunday.
“Investors are slowly starting to realise that these new tariffs could be extremely disruptive to the supply chain”, said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR in NY.
The tough talk and fear of more tariffs and retaliation rattled investors and sent indexes dropping.
He also threatened punitive action against nations that won’t deal fairly with Washington. “And they can’t take actions that entirely flout the rules of the worldwide trading system”, the official said.


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Date of this Version
Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing, Volume 30, Numbers 1 and 2: 2008 ISSN 0196-7134
On December 15, 2007, The Washington Post published an article by staff writer Jeffrey H. Birnbaum titled “In the Course of Human Events, Still Unpublished: Congress Pressed on Founders’ Papers.” This article focused on complaints that the editions publishing the papers of Founders John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington, collectively known at the Founding Fathers Papers (FFP), which noted historian David McCullough called “as worthy as any publishing effort that I know of,” take too long to finish and are not accessible enough in the electronic age of free online resources. Comments from Rebecca W. Rimel, president of the Pew Charitable Trusts, and Daniel P. Jordan, president of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, even left the impression that the editors of these projects were somehow purposefully refusing to adopt technology that would allow them to make faster progress. The article gave little notice to the recent progress that the projects have made on electronic publication. Also, when citing projected finish dates, the article did not mention the number of volumes remaining to be published.

domain: library


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Your cart is currently empty!
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Available in white & green\black pearls too.
These earrings work well with: ID Charm Necklace
Shades of Grey Necklace.
Pam Lazzarotto Designs
A dainty pair of sterling silver hoops with grey labradorite.
Cascade Earrings, 2 Colors
Long earrings with cascading circles & drops are lightweight & swingy.
For dress-up wear the pearl earrings; for vacation\summer, wear the turquoise ones!!
Pearl earrings with a twist. Easy for gift-giving.
Del Rey Earrings, 2 Colors
Multiple stones drops give you plenty of color for all year wearability!


Community Notice - Construction works
The Woorabinda Aboriginal Sire Council Construction Team will be working on the following upgrades starting this Thursday, 10 June 2021.
- Upgrade of the Undo Lane and Kangaroo Stadium Lane with Asphalt. Please keep clear of this area.
- Resealing A Section of the Black-Boy Road from Lilly Creek grid to Black-boy.


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Preventing radioactive leaks at Fukushima Daiichi
Japan’s nuclear catastrophe, triggered by an earthquake and tsunami, now faces challenges from a relentless flow of subterranean freshwater.
A full cleanup and decommissioning of the Fukushima plant could take four decades. Read: Japan’s nuclear cleanup effort is turning into another kind of disaster
On March 11, 2011, a
9.0-magnitude earthquake and 46-foot tsunami knocked out power and backup generators at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on the east coast of Japan.
Reactors 4, 5 and 6 were shut down at the time of the earthquake. Fuel-core meltdowns occurred in reactors 1, 2 and 3, which were active during the earthquake.
A cascading series of events sent radioactive particles into surrounding areas. Radioactive nuclides escaped in several ways: by steam from overheating reactors; water leaking from damaged reactor vessels; smoke; and explosions that rocked reactors 1, 3 and 4.
Since the accident, a circulating water system has been installed to cool the molten fuel.
Water leaving the reactors passes through a filtration plant that removes radioactive cesium, then proceeds through a reverse-osmosis filter before flowing into storage tanks that feed water back into the reactors.
The tanks can store 400,000 tons of water. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) anticipates needing twice that amount of storage in the future.
Radioactive water continues to escape into the environment:
In August, 80,000 gallons of radioactive water leaked out of a storage tank.
Toxic water collects
in underground electrical conduits and seawater cooling-system trenches close to shore, where high levels of radioactivity have recently been detected in the soil.
Trenches and conduits
Reactors sit in permeable soil, through which about 800 tons of freshwater flows every day on its way to the ocean. In the process that water mixes with on-site contaminants and becomes toxic. Half of that water makes its way into the sea. The other half leaks into
buildings, from where it is pumped out, filtered and stored.
Because of the inflow of groundwater, the amount of
water stored on site constantly accumulates. But
some of the water is recycled, taken from the tanks and
fed back into the reactors to cool the molten fuel.
To prevent water from flowing through the accident site, engineers are pumping out groundwater with a dozen wells and piping it to a
series of holding tanks, where it is being held until TEPCO, the
Japanese government, local residents and fishermen agree
that the water is safe enough to empty into the ocean.
Groundwater storage tanks
To prevent contaminated water from leaving the site, engineers are pumping out and filtering water from soil, conduits and trenches, and are building a new filtration plant that can remove more than 60 different radionuclides.
Glass walls are being installed near the shoreline to isolate contaminated soil.
In the future, impervious walls will seal the shoreline.
A mile-long array of pipes will be sunk 100 feet into the ground, where circulating refrigerants will create a watertight wall of frozen soil surrounding the reactors.
Water collecting inside the ice barrier will be pumped out and filtered.
The accident has discharged about a 10th of the amount of radiation released by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
Because some fish samples contain radioactive elements above allowable limits, fishing of many species is banned in the area.
SOURCE: Tepco; International Atomic Energy Agency; Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; staff reports
Drawings are diagrammatic.

domain: news


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Russia Ukraine warfare: There was already loads of hassle to speak about when a significant UN assembly on the landmark Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty was initially speculated to occur in 2020.
Now, the pandemic-postponed convention lastly begins Monday as Russia’s warfare in Ukraine has reanimated fears of nuclear confrontation and cranked up the urgency of attempting to bolster the 50-year-old treaty.
“It’s a very, very tough second,” stated Beatrice Fihn, the manager director of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Worldwide Marketing campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
Russia’s invasion, accompanied by ominous references to its nuclear arsenal, “is so important for the treaty and actually going to place plenty of stress on this,” she stated. “How governments react to the scenario goes to form future nuclear coverage.”
The four-week assembly goals to generate a consensus on subsequent steps, however expectations are low for a considerable — if any — settlement. Nonetheless, Swiss President Ignazio Cassis, prime ministers Fumio Kishida of Japan and Frank Bainimarama of Fiji, and greater than a dozen nations’ overseas ministers are amongst attendees anticipated from not less than 116 international locations, in accordance with a U.N. official who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of he wasn’t approved to talk publicly earlier than the convention.
In pressure since 1970, the Nonproliferation Treaty has the widest adherence of any arms management settlement. Some 191 international locations have joined.
Nations with out nuclear weapons promised to not purchase them, whereas nuclear-armed Britain, China, France, Russia (then the Soviet Union) and the US agreed to barter towards eliminating their arsenals sometime. All endorsed everybody’s proper to develop peaceable nuclear power.
India and Pakistan, which did not signal, went on to get the bomb. So did North Korea, which ratified the pact however later introduced it was withdrawing. Non-signatory Israel is believed to have a nuclear arsenal however neither confirms nor denies it.
Nonetheless, the Nonproliferation Treaty has been credited with limiting the variety of nuclear newcomers (US President John F. Kennedy as soon as foresaw as many as 20 nuclear-armed nations by 1975) and serving as a framework for worldwide cooperation on disarmament.
The overall variety of nuclear weapons worldwide has shrunk by greater than 75 per cent from a mid-Nineteen Eighties peak, largely because of the finish of the Chilly Conflict between the US and the previous Soviet Union. However consultants estimate roughly 13,000 warheads stay worldwide, the overwhelming majority within the US and Russia.
Conferences to evaluate how the treaty is working are speculated to occur each 5 years, however the 2020 convention was repeatedly delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Challenges have solely grown within the meantime.
When launching the Ukraine warfare in February, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that any try to intrude would result in “penalties you might have by no means seen” and emphasised that his nation is “probably the most potent nuclear powers.” Days later, Putin ordered Russia’s nuclear forces to be placed on increased alert, a transfer that UN Secretary-Common António Guterres referred to as “bone-chilling.”
“The prospect of nuclear battle, as soon as unthinkable, is now again inside the realm of chance,” he stated.
The occasions in Ukraine create a tough alternative for the upcoming convention, stated Patricia Lewis, a former UN disarmament analysis official who’s now on the worldwide affairs assume tank Chatham Home in London.
“On the one hand, to be able to assist the treaty and what it stands for, governments should handle Russia’s habits and threats,” she stated.
“However, to take action dangers dividing the treaty members.”
One other uncomfortable dynamic: The warfare has heightened some international locations’ apprehensions about not having nuclear weapons, particularly since Ukraine as soon as housed however gave up a trove of Soviet nukes.
Convention members can stress different safety methods or emphasize the prices and risks of buying nuclear weapons, however “it is vital to not be too preachy,” stated Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Establishment assume tank in Washington.
“The concept we will simply look different international locations within the face and say, You are higher off with out the bomb’ — that is a little bit of a tough argument to hold proper now categorically,” stated O’Hanlon, a senior fellow specializing in protection and safety. Ukraine is hardly the one sizzling matter.
North Korea seems to have been making ready just lately for its first nuclear weapons take a look at since 2017. Talks about reviving the deal meant to maintain Iran from creating nukes are in limbo.
The US and Russia have just one remaining treaty curbing their nuclear weapons and have been creating new applied sciences. Britain final 12 months raised a self-imposed cap on its stockpile. China says it is modernizing — or, the US claims, increasing — the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal.
Daryl Kimball, who heads the nonprofit Arms Management Affiliation in Washington, cannot recall one other time when the Nonproliferation Treaty has come up for evaluation with “so many difficulties in so many various areas, and the place we’ve got seen such extreme tensions between the foremost gamers.”
US Ambassador Adam Scheinman, the presidential particular consultant for nuclear nonproliferation, stated Washington hopes for a “balanced” final result that “units sensible targets and advances our nationwide and worldwide safety pursuits.”
“You possibly can have little doubt that Russia’s actions will have an effect on the local weather on the convention and prospects for an agreed final result doc. Different tough points could complicate this, as nicely. However I am ready to be considerably optimistic,” he stated in a phone briefing.
The Related Press despatched inquiries to Russia’s UN mission about Moscow’s targets for the convention. There was no fast response.
In Beijing, Chinese language Overseas Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian stated his nation desires to work towards bettering international nuclear governance and upholding the worldwide order and can “firmly safeguard the professional safety and improvement pursuits and rights of China and the creating world.”
If the world cannot communicate with one voice, disarmament advocates say a powerful assertion from a big group of nations may ship a significant message.
Lately, frustration with the Nonproliferation Treaty catalyzed one other pact that outright prohibits nuclear weapons. Ratified by over 60 international locations, it took impact final 12 months, although with none nuclear-armed nations on board.
At a current assembly in Vienna, taking part international locations condemned “any and all nuclear threats” and inked a prolonged plan that features contemplating a world belief fund for individuals harmed by nuclear weapons.
Fihn, whose Geneva-based group campaigned for the nuclear ban treaty, hopes the vigor in Vienna serves as inspiration — or discover — for international locations to make progress on the UN convention. “In case you do not do it right here,” she stated, “we’re transferring on with out you elsewhere.”
Additionally Learn: Is Putin planning to start out a nuclear warfare in opposition to Ukraine? What we all know to this point
Additionally Learn | Russia renews strikes on Ukraine capital, claims full management of city space of Mariupol
Newest World Information


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The England midfielder, a £15million target for Chelsea and Tottenham, made his Villa debut at 17 in 1998.
Boss Martin O'Neill said: "It's rare to see players stay at one club for so long these days."
Tribal Football Staff are dedicated to the football tribes from all over the world. Our team is passionate about delivering football news to our hundreds of thousands of followers in all the corners of the globe. Football is life, It never stops, Neither do we.


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FREE blood pressure checks are being given in Portsmouth as part of a national drive.
The Blood Pressure Association has been offering the free service as part of its Know Your Numbers! week.
Paul Newman, chief executive of the Blood Pressure Association, said: ‘High blood pressure is a dangerous condition when not managed, and we hope everyone will take advantage of the free blood pressure checks to lower their risk of stroke and heart attack.
‘Everyone who gets checked helps to emphasise the importance of knowing your blood pressure numbers, offering free checks could really be saving lives.’
Sessions are taking place in the Asda pharmacy, at The Bridge Shopping Centre, Fratton tomorrow, 7am to 11pm, Saturday, September 17, 7am to 10pm, Sunday, September 18, 10am to 4pm.
They are also being held in Copnor Pharmacy, Copnor Road, Copnor, tomorrow, 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 6pm and Saturday, September 17, 9am to 1pm.

domain: medical


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Viewing is by appointment only,
please call to book an appointment
Chinese, Circa 1920.
This lovely box is smothered in beautiful detailed carvings of oriental scenes and florals.
In great condition, the box provides great storage and is beautifully decorative at the same time.
On bracket feet.


Aurora Theatre Digital Series Presents
In the Middle of It
Jul 22, 2020
In the Middle of It – A Dance Exploration
Conceived and performed by Peyton Davis, Micheʼ Smith, Brandon M. Weber & Olivia Zimmerman
This week’s edition of Cyber Stage looks at the artists ability to communicate through the language of movement. Members of our AppCo alumni have devised presentations exploring these unprecedented times. There’s a natural choreography to worries, fears and unrest, alongside moments of love, joy and hope. How do we operate in those spaces both literal and emotional?
Cyber Stage from Aurora Theatre will feature new plays, many of which have been created specifically to be presented in a virtual setting. Curated and directed by Aurora Theatre Associate Artistic Director Justin Anderson. Performed by professional actors from the prestigious Aurora Apprentice program, this new way to experience live theatre will thrill you while remaining safe and secure at home. Following the performance, the cast will take questions from the audience.
Get your FREE ticket by reserving a space online (you will be emailed a viewing link the day of the show). This will be live and not a recording, so reserve your spot for the show and put it on the calendar. Space is limited.


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Cincinnati’s big, quiet economic mover (Video)
- Paula Christian, Courier Contributor
It’s an unglamorous, often misunderstood industry. It doesn’t get much press or attention from young college graduates.
But it’s a $148 billion industry with explosive growth. And Cincinnati is at the epicenter.
The logistics industry, in simplest terms, matches freight with carriers — truck drivers with anything from pallets of watermelons to Black Hawk helicopters.
And Cincinnati is behind only three other cities in the number of logistics companies based here. The other three? The giant metros of Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta.
Cincinnati is also home to the second-largest domestic freight brokerage in the country, Total Quality Logistics, a $2 billion powerhouse that employs more than 2,500. Many former TQL employees have launched their own spin-off companies that are now churning out their own astronomical revenue growth - from 100 to 300 percent each year.
As the Business Courier rolls out our annual Fast 55 publication (see Section B), logistics companies are once again well-represented. Indeed, five of the Courier’s finalists for the 2014 rankings are in logistics: Legion Logistics LLC, US Logistics, Integrity Logistics LLC, ODW Logistics & Transportation and the big boy: TQL, with expected 2014 revenue of $2 billion.
“This is like Silicon Valley for the logistics industry,” said Lacy Starling, who co-founded Legion Logistics in 2009. Starling, the daughter of a truck driver, and her partner, Tony Coutsoftides, who handled logistics for the U.S. Army and worked for TQL, emptied their retirement accounts and had only $67 remaining when they launched their business.
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ELM MOTT (July 15, 2013)—The steady rain Monday left some residents without power temporarily and was a factor in a series of traffic accidents, but a flash flood watch for the area issued earlier was canceled because anticipated flooding problems failed to materialize.
The watch for an area along and southwest of a line from Jacksboro to Centerville was canceled Monday afternoon as light rain continued to fall across much of the region.
Forecasters said the rain will continue through the evening before ending overnight.
Rainfall totals of 4 to 5 inches aren’t uncommon in the area, but because of the steady nature of the rainfall, no flooding problems have resulted.
Monday afternoon the left lane of the southbound interstate was closed through Belton because of standing water and traffic was slowed for about three-and-a-half miles from U.S. 190 to Midway Drive.
The problem could persist until the rain stops falling.
"We have engineers working on the problem, but as you know, this is a very unusual rain pattern for Central Texas in July, and the problem is in a difficult area to address it in a way that will correct the problem, rather than merely move it down the road," the Texas Department of Transportation said in a press release.
Earlier Monday authorities reported a number of weather-related accidents on the highway.
Troopers and emergency responders were sent at about 7:05 a.m. to mile marker 342 near Elm Mott where the inside lane of northbound Interstate 35 was reported blocked.
Wrecks were also reported between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. at exit 327 and mile markers 347 and 353, all southbound.
None of the early accident involved injuries, a Department of Public Safety communications officer said.
There was a problem with water on the roadway in Salado along the Interstate 35 access road that amounted to run off from the main lanes of the highway.
As many as 1,100 homes were without power Monday morning across a wide swath of Central Texas due because of the weather, but by afternoon only a handful of outages remained.
Monday morning Oncor was reporting about 600 homes without power in Copperas Cove, more than 450 homes powerless in Killeen, almost 130 homes without power in Hillsboro, more than 50 in Cameron and about 20 in Waco.


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Both my husband and I are descendants of Romniacs. What are Romniacs you ask? The Washington Post explains:
These are the sasquatches of American politics: rumored, hoped-for, so elusive that they can seem imaginary.
They are Mitt Romney’s superfans.
To be clear: These “Romniacs” are not Wall Street bigwigs or paid campaign operatives. Many of them, but not all, are Mormons like Romney. What unites them is a powerful — and unusual — excitement for a candidate who struggles to excite anybody else.
The good news for Romney is that they exist, these people who call him a “geek,” and “Ward Cleaver,” and love him deeply for it.
The bad news is that there doesn’t appear to be that many of them — a small, eclectic scattering in a nation with 137 million registered voters.
“We are in the thousands,” said Judi Rustin, 61, the poet in Arizona. “And we all bleed red Romney blood.”
So far, Romney has done something remarkable in this campaign: He has managed to win without winning. Despite claiming 16 states and a sizable lead in the race for GOP delegates, the candidate has not been able to build the kind of fervor that could sweep his opponents away. In a recent poll that asked for a one-word reaction to Romney, the most common answer was “no.”
Hey, a win is a win. Most of the passion that people feel for Romney is not of the helpful variety. And that gets almost all of the press attention.
And many of Romney's supporters are of the reluctant variety, which fits quite a few of his Ricochet supporters.
But I'm happy to see an article that actually gives props to those people -- like my mother and my in-laws -- who are fanatical Romney supporters. They may not be that numerous but they do exist and it's nice to see some coverage.
The article, by the way, made me laugh out loud repeatedly. Quite a feat early in the morning before coffee. Wait until you get to the part about Little Mitt.


The faucet of laser marking machine is the popular name of water valve, which is used to control the size of water flow switch. The faucet has been updated soon. From old cast iron technology to electroplating knob type, it has developed into stainless steel single temperature single control faucet, stainless steel double temperature double control faucet and kitchen semi-automatic faucet.
Nowadays, more and more consumers buy faucets, which will be considered in material, function and shape. The faucet optical fiber marking machine can mark the metal faucet of the sanitary industry, and add value to the products.
Faucet optical fiber marking machine faucet optical fiber marking machine features:
1. It can process all metals and some non-metallic materials.
2. High marking accuracy, no need to contact the surface of processed products, and the marking will not fade for a long time.
3. The marking machine does not need to consume consumables, but only needs to adjust the image file for direct processing.
4. Support automatic coding, printing serial number, batch number, date, barcode, QR code, automatic skip number, etc.
5. No maintenance, long service life, small size, suitable for working in harsh environment. 1. The electro-optic conversion efficiency is high, the power consumption of the whole machine is less than 500W, which is 1 / 10 of that of the lamp pump solid-state laser marking machine, greatly saving energy consumption.
2. The processing speed is 3-5 times that of the traditional marking machine (depending on the material).
3. It adopts the overall structure and humanized operation process.
4. The marking software has powerful functions and is compatible with software files such as laser marking machine; it supports PLT, PCX, DXF, BMP, etc. 5. Support automatic coding, printing serial number, batch number, date, barcode, QR code, automatic skip number, etc.


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In order to avoid preventable accidents during such season, Police has advised road users to always take extra caution when it is raining or after it has rained.
According to Commissioner of Police (CP) Rafiki Mujiji, the Commissioner for Traffic and Road Safety department, drivers also have to contend with likely strong winds besides dealing with heavy downpour, which calls for one to exercise caution when driving in such weather.
“In case you are driving or riding in the rain, it would be safer to anticipate how to deal with wet roads as well as poor visibility that characterize such weather; as usual your car should be in good condition with head and tail lights, brakes, turn signals, and windshield wipers working. Ensure that tires are in good shape and properly inflated to contend with the slip,” advised CP Rafiki.
He also advised on turning headlights on when it’s raining to challenge the low visibility and fog and to signal the equally affected motorists coming from behind and those from the opposite direction.
“As usual, drive in your lane, go slow, give each driver space, don’t enter flooded roads, stay alert and pull-over where necessary; exercise extra caution when overtaking because heavy rains and fog can affect your visibility,” CP Mujiji advised.
“When driving under such weather conditions, you don’t have to move at 40km/hr or 60km/hr just because the traffic signpost grants that speed; it comes back to your individual responsibility to set your rules below the set maximum speed as the weather dictates. Be a responsible driver and always take safer decisions when on road,” he added.


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In what was shaping up the be one of the most promising seasons and competitive teams the Beat had put on the field in recent years everything crashed to a grinding halt. On Monday, January 30th 2012 the league issued a statement to suspend the 2012 season citing the pending legal issues with former magicJack team owner Dan Borislow. If you are unfamiliar with the situation you can find out more by reading Beau Dure’s piece at espnW here.
Borislow was seen by many, including himself, to be the savior to the struggling league when at the 11th hour he stepped in and committed to field a team for the 2011 season. Perhaps it was in this haste that the other team owners and league officials didn’t realize the type of person they were dealing with in Borislow. They soon found out as the narcissistic owner didn’t comply with several league requirements and even had a grievance filed by players and the WPS Players Union to the league for violations of the Standard Player Contract Provision, the FIFA Code of Ethics, WPS Media Policy and U.S. Soccer Federation Coaching Requirements.
It’s unfortunate that the situation has reached this point but perhaps the WPS can settle these matters and use this time to strengthen the league and seek out additional owners for the 2013 season. However, if things go against the owners in the legal matters I would imagine the WPS will fold and possibly see the teams join other leagues or create a new league, perhaps with a single entity plan similar to Major League Soccer. Many potential owners have backed away from investing in the league because of it’s current structure.
The only solace fans can take is that with the USWNT winning the CONCACAF qualifying tournament they will be a part of the 2012 London Summer Olympics which will run between July 25th and August 9th. Because of the Olympics and the reduction in number of teams to 5 the 2012 WPS season was going to be shortest season thus far. With pre-olympic camps the USWNT players would likely only have played 9 or 10 games this season with their club teams. If you want to see women’s soccer in person you can still check out the 2011 USL W-League champion Atlanta Silverbacks. In addition to the men’s team they also field a women’s team that consistently is in contention for the championship. Their season traditionally runs from May through July.
WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL SOCCER SUSPENDS PLAY FOR 2012 SEASON
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (January 30, 2012) – Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) announced today that its Board of Governors has voted to suspend the 2012 season to permit the League to focus on the resolution of certain pending legal issues and the challenges that now face the League as a result of its ongoing dispute with a former owner.
“We are proud of what the League has accomplished in the first three seasons, but we do recognize the necessity to resolve our existing legal and operational issues so that we can continue to support and grow WPS the right way,” said Sky Blue FC Owner Thomas Hofstetter. “This was a very difficult decision, but one we as owners feel is the best business decision for the League at this time.”
The Board voted on Monday morning to suspend the 2012 season. Over the last year the league has faced significant challenges, including a lengthy and expensive legal battle with a former owner. The litigation has diverted resources from investment in the league and has forced the Board to take action, suspending the 2012 season in order to address the legal issues head‐on before moving forward with competition.
“We firmly believe there is a place in the global sports landscape for Women’s Professional Soccer,” said WPS CEO Jennifer O’Sullivan. “Making the decision to suspend the 2012 season was a difficult and painful one, but it is necessary to take the time to address current issues and solidify our business in order to provide appropriate support needed to achieve the League’s long‐term goals. Those that take part in our League ‐ players, partners and fans ‐ deserve the best, and that is what we are taking the time to ensure we deliver when we resume play in 2013 and beyond.”
WPS has established its plans to return to play in 2013, and all five owners of the League’s existing teams ‐ Atlanta Beat, Boston Breakers, Philadelphia Independence, Sky Blue FC and Western New York Flash ‐ will remain active with the CEO, Jennifer O’Sullivan, in the governance of WPS throughout the current year.
“We are deeply grateful to our fans and partners for the tremendous support they have shown for WPS, our players and the sport,” added O’Sullivan. “With our supporters and athletes in mind, we are committed to complete the hard work necessary to resume play in 2013 and reestablish WPS as the premiere women’s professional soccer league in the world.”
So what are your thoughts concerning the 2012 season being suspended? Do you think the WPS will be back in 2013?

domain: law


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Family members and friends gathered Thursday on the Capitol grounds in Salt Lake City to remember Utah’s fallen officers during the annual Utah Law Enforcement Memorial Service.
Since 1853, 147 police officers have been killed while serving the citizens of Utah. The most recent was Ogden officer Nathan J. Lyday who was shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence call on May 28, 2020.
No officers were lost during 2021.
According to utahsfallen.org, Utah Peace Officers Standards and Training Director Rich Townsend initiated the first state police memorial in 1988, which was located in the Capitol rotunda.
In 2004, construction on the Capitol necessitated the removal of the memorial from the rotunda and it was determined that no memorials would be allowed there.
The Capitol Preservation Board allocated a prominent location just outside the west doors of the Capitol as the location of the new memorial, which was dedicated on Sept. 6, 2008.