Bottled water recalled due to dangerous arsenic levels

GLENDALE — About 2,400 bottles of Jermuk mineral water are being recalled from stores after they were found to contain unacceptable levels of arsenic.

The order to recall Jermuk Natural Mineral Water Sparkling brand water came after U.S. Food and Drug Administration testing found 500 to 600 micrograms of arsenic per liter — well above the 10-microgram limit, the agency announced.

The water — which is bottled in and shipped from Jermuk, Armenia — was distributed nationwide through three firms, including Glendale-based Kradjian Importing Co., and was also labeled as “Bottled by Jermuk Group CJSC” and “Sale Agent Kradjian Importing Co. Inc.,” according to the FDA.

Kradjian Importing Co. was notified of the recall Tuesday and has since been working to collect about 200 cases of the bottled water from smaller stores in Glendale, Pasadena, Burbank and North Hollywood, co-owner Vic Kradjian said.

“One thing we’re going to make sure of is that we’re going to collect everything that’s out there,” he said.

While the level of contamination would not pose any serious health risks for those who have been exposed to the water for up to a few weeks, FDA health officials said longer exposure to the level of arsenic found in the recalled water could be dangerous.

“It could certainly do you harm over a long period of time,” said David Acheson, chief medical officer for the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

But the positive test results were from water that was tested “at one point in time,” Acheson said, and it is not known how widespread or for how long the arsenic levels had been present.

Still, symptoms associated with low-level arsenic poisoning — nausea, abdominal pain and possible vomiting — might go misdiagnosed since they are not very specific, he said

“It might go under the radar for a while,” he said.

Long-term, acute exposure over a few weeks to the poison could affect the kidneys, liver, skin and nervous systems, but so far, there have been no illnesses reported, according to the FDA.

Investigators have mostly ruled out the possibility that the contamination was intentional, Acheson said.

Kradjian’s company has been importing the water to stores in the region for the past five years, he said, and it is popular among the local Armenian population.

“They’re been using the water for some time,” he said.

Delivery trucks have been collecting dozens of cases of the recalled water since Wednesday, after Kradjian sent out letters and made phone calls to the almost 200 mom-and-pop shops that carry the water, he said.

The brand is not carried by any major grocery stores or chains in the region, Kradjian said.

The company will lose about $1,600 for the wholesale cost of the water, he said, adding that he hoped to have all of the water collected within the next few days.

“All we can do is comply with the FDA measures,” he said. “The good news is that nobody got sick from the water, so far.”