Traces of drugs found in water

The Metropolitan Water District confirmed Sunday that tests conducted in 2006 turned up trace amounts of nine pharmaceuticals in untreated water at the agency’s George Jensen Treatment Plant in Granada Hills.

But only two drugs were detected in treated water leaving the plant, officials said.

The test results were first reported in an Associated Press investigation being published this week about pharmaceuticals in water supplies nationwide.

The water district did not make the test results public at the time or inform its board members because they were part of a larger study by a national group, said Mic Stewart, MWD water quality manager.

Small amounts of pharmaceuticals have been found in drinking water around the country, prompting concerns among some scientists about potential long-term consequences.

Suppliers say the levels are too low to pose a human health risk.

The two drugs found in the Jensen plant’s treated water -- phenytoin, prescribed for epilepsy, and the antianxiety drug meprobamate -- were found only in minute amounts, Stewart said.

The results will be discussed at noon today by the MWD board’s water quality panel at the district headquarters, 700 N. Alameda St.

-- Deborah Schoch