No residents affected by THC contaminated water, hospital says

Alyssa Rege -

Officials at Lincoln Community Hospital in Hugo, Colo., said no patients reported any adverse affects after the Hugo Public Works Department discovered THC in the town's local water supply, according to an NPR report.

The Lincoln County Sherriff's Office said the public works department detected "evidence of THC" in the local water supply but residents did not exhibit any symptoms. Subsequent testing by multiple agencies found "no levels of concentration," according to NPR.

Lincoln County Health officer John Fox, MD, updated residents through the organization's Facebook page. He stated that it would take "more product than any of [the residents] could afford to contaminate a city water supply to the extent that people would suffer any effects."

Dr. Fox also recommended that until the department received the additional test results, it is "reasonable [for residents] to avoid drinking or cooking with town water" but that "washing hands, toileting, bathing and showering" with town water are acceptable, according to the Facebook post.

Several health experts told The Denver Post that the town's fears are unfounded because THC is "relatively insoluble in water."

Concerns about the water were first raised by an unidentified Hugo-based company conducting "field tests" to check employees for THC, according to the Denver Post. When tests results came back inconsistent, company officials decided to test a vial of tap water. The water tested positive for THC.

LincolnCounty officials later isolated the results to a single well a mile away from downtown Hugo. County officials also said the well exhibited signs of forced entry, but officials are unclear when the damage occurred, according to the Denver Post.

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