SEQUIM — The medicine you flush down your toilet may turn up in your tap water — at least if you drink from a well near Sequim.
There’s much less cause for concern than for curiosity, Clallam County health officials say.
A report distributed to the Clallam County Board of Health last week said all the substances found in tests were “far below known toxicity or therapeutic thresholds.”
Still, “some of these pharmaceuticals are very long lasting, and they’re biologically active,” Dr. Tom Locke, health officer for Clallam and Jefferson counties, told the board.
The diabetes drug metformin showed up in water taken from Bell and Cassalery creeks and nearby wells, the report said.
In addition, traces of 14 more medications showed up in a 2004 test of effluent from the Sequim and Sunland sewage treatment plants.
The state Department of Ecology singled out Sequim for a water test because its elderly population was more likely to use more prescription medications.
Discharge from the Sequim plant meets state standards for Class A water.
