Cannabis regulators say they detected “impermissible levels of lead” in about a dozen marijuana vapes tested under a statewide quarantine over the past few weeks, according to documents released by the Cannabis Control Commission.

The commission released 109 results from testing it had been conducting, primarily to see if the products contained vitamin E acetate, an oil additive health officials say is implicated in the national outbreak of vaping-related lung illnesses.

Thirteen of the products had lead levels above 500 parts per billion, with one vape having more than 50 times the acceptable level.

“Each of these products had previously, and successfully, complied with testing protocols before being made available for sale,” the commission said. “When tested again this month, however, 13 of the aforementioned products failed for impermissible levels of lead.”

None of the products, however, contained vitamin E acetate. An independent Massachusetts lab previously detected vitamin E acetate in some vapes, but not in products sold at legal cannabis stores.

But the state’s Department of Public Health said recently that six probable cases of vaping-related lung illness involved THC-based vape products that had been purchased from licensed dispensaries in Massachusetts. After sharing this finding with the public, DPH and the commission entered a data-sharing agreement to look into which businesses they suspected sold products that sickened people.

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