Peñafiel bottled water is being pulled from store shelves after a report found that the products contained arsenic at levels that exceeded federal standards.
Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., the company that makes this brand of bottled water, said Peñafiel unflavored mineral spring water products are involved in the market withdrawal. It wrote in a statement Friday that it is voluntarily pulling the products, which are sold at Target and Walmart, and possibly other vendors.
The move comes after a report from the non-profit Center for Environmental Health found bottles of Peñafiel water, which are imported from Mexico, contained arsenic levels above standards set by the Food and Drug Administration and the state of California.
California’s consumer protection law, Proposition 65, classifies arsenic as a metal that can cause cancer and reproductive harm.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention links long-term exposure to high levels of arsenic in drinking water to an increased risk for diabetes, high blood pressure and several types of cancer.
"Water quality tests of Peñafiel samples conducted by an independent laboratory on behalf of Keurig Dr Pepper detected arsenic at levels that exceeded the FDA's bottled water standards for mineral water of 10 ppb (parts per billion)," the company wrote in the statement.
The company also noted that anyone who has Peñafiel bottled water at home can return the products to the store for a full refund. No other products made by Keurig Dr Pepper are involved.
"Arsenic is found in nature, including in aquifers that are the source of mineral water and where levels can vary over time," the company statement continued. "Keurig Dr Pepper has recently installed enhanced filtration systems at its facilities that produce Peñafiel, and the product now being produced is well within regulatory guidelines."
A Consumer Reports investigation in April found 11 out of 130 brands of bottled water had detectable levels of arsenic.
Federal standards set an acceptable limit of 10 parts per billion. Consumer Reports maintains that standard should be lower, at three parts per billion.
The group identified six brands that had arsenic levels at three ppb or higher, including Peñafiel, as well as Starkey water, owned by Whole Foods Market.
"Beyond the required annual testing by an FDA certified lab, we have an accredited third-party lab test every production run of water before it is sold, and our test results from the same lot analyzed by Consumer Reports show that these products are fully compliant with FDA standards for heavy metals," a Whole Foods Market spokesperson wrote in an email to NBC News. "We would never sell products that do not meet FDA requirements.”
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