Mold contamination, HVAC system failures and fires drove dozens of regulatory investigations at licensed cannabis cultivation facilities in Connecticut, according to reporting syndicated by MSN. The incidents underscore the operational and air-quality risks that indoor cultivation can create when humidity, airflow and equipment maintenance are not tightly controlled — the same conditions that make grow rooms vulnerable to Aspergillus and other fungal contamination of finished product.
Connecticut joins a growing list of state cannabis programs — including Missouri and Maine, both of which have issued mold-related recalls in recent weeks — where regulators are intervening over microbial contamination concerns. For patients in medical programs, mold-contaminated cannabis is a particular concern because immunocompromised consumers are at elevated risk of fungal infection from inhaled spores.