CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / SANTA CLARITA

Los Angeles County health officials were trying to determine Friday if bottles of water from a vending machine at a junior high school were contaminated and caused several students to fall ill.

“Samples have been taken to the county lab, where they will do further chemical and biological testing,” said Michael Uyehara, a hazardous materials specialist with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Fire officials were notified when a dozen La Mesa Junior High School students complained of feeling sick Thursday afternoon after drinking Aquafina water from a vending machine, said county fire Inspector Steve Zermeno. The FBI and county Sheriff’s Department also were notified.

Twelve children complained of symptoms, such as “a burning in the throat,” Zermeno said. Six were taken to nearby hospitals and released.

Some of the students complained of having headaches and feeling queasy, said Pat Willett, community liaison for the William S. Hart Union School District. The symptoms were “fairly minor,” but the students were sent to the emergency room as a safeguard, she said.

An agent with the FBI’s hazardous materials team was sent to the school “as a precaution,” said Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the bureau’s Los Angeles field office

Jeff Dahncke, a spokesman for the Pepsi Bottling Group, which manufactures Aquafina, said there is no evidence the incident occurred as a result of anything in the company’s manufacturing process.

“We have examined and tasted numerous bottles that were produced at the same time as those in this case and have found them to be free of any problems whatsoever,” Dahncke said.

-- Ann M. Simmons