Testing during the past three years revealed nearly a million Illinoisans get their drinking water from municipal wells contaminated with toxic forever chemicals at levels exceeding state health guidelines.
Another 1.4 million people in the state depend on private wells, including scores in the Chicago suburbs. But there has been no systematic approach to determine if any of them are unknowingly ingesting chemicals that build up in human blood, cause cancer and other diseases and take years to leave the body.
As far as the state is concerned, it is up to individual well owners to decide if it’s worth spending $500 or so to test their water for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS.
