More than 80,000 people in Madison County recently learned their city’s water exceeded new state and federal limits on contamination from PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” the last time it was tested.
Collinsville had some of the highest levels in the state: four and a half times the limit for one type of chemical.
Affected residents received letters declaring “PUBLIC HEALTH NOTICE - READ IMMEDIATELY” printed on the envelopes. Many still had questions after reading the letter, including whether their tap water is safe to drink.
Exposure to PFAS, a group of man-made chemicals, has been linked to certain types of cancer, fertility and child development issues and other health problems.
Environment oversight agencies only recently took action to regulate PFAS by setting limits on their presence in drinking water. They won’t enforce those limits with violations and fines until 2029. In the meantime, water utilities are starting to upgrade their treatment process to remove PFAS if they have elevated levels so they can be compliant in four years time.
But President Donald Trump’s administration could disrupt that process. It has signaled it may roll back the brand new PFAS regulations, which were introduced under former President Joe Biden.
What PFAS are and how they may impact your health
PFAS is shorthand for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. These synthetic chemicals have been used for decades to make products that repel oil and water such as nonstick cookware, waterproof clothing, stain resistant furniture, food packaging and cosmetics, as well as firefighting foams.
They are often referred to as forever chemicals because they break down very slowly and build up over time — including in the human body when people ingest contaminated food or water. PFAS don’t have any taste, color or odor.
And exposure can cause health problems.
According to environment oversight agencies, the possible health effects of PFAS that have been identified by scientific studies include:
- Reproductive effects, such as decreased fertility and high blood pressure in pregnant women
- Developmental effects in children, such as low birth weight
- Increased risks of developing certain types of cancer, including prostate, kidney and testicular cancers
- Reduced ability of the body’s immune system to fight infections, including reduced vaccine response
- Interference with the body’s natural hormones
- Increased risk of thyroid disease
- Increased cholesterol levels
- Increased risk of obesity
Scientific research into PFAS is ongoing to better understand how harmful the chemicals are and how much people are exposed to them.
How Trump could impact EPA regulations
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set the first limits on the amount of certain PFAS that are allowed in drinking water in an effort to protect public health in April 2024.
The EPA has said people face health risks with any level of exposure to two PFAS in particular: perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, or PFOS. But the agency decided to allow community water systems to have small amounts of them in their drinking water under the new rules after taking cost and available water treatment technology into consideration.
The limit that the EPA will enforce for PFOA and PFOS is 4 parts per trillion, but it says the goal should be zero.
Illinois has since adopted the same PFAS limits as the federal government. They were finalized in Illinois in April 2025, which is why some Metro East residents have been receiving letters from the Illinois EPA that PFAS have been detected above the limits.
The new rules require community water systems with elevated PFAS levels to take action to remove more of the chemicals from their water by 2029. The Trump administration could change that.
Utility and industry groups sued the EPA last year to challenge the drinking water regulations for PFAS. That litigation is ongoing, but new EPA leadership chosen by the new administration is tasked with either defending the rules or taking other action to resolve the lawsuit.
The agency could reconsider the Biden-era regulations that are in dispute, ending the need for judicial review, the EPA argued in a recent court filing.
It has asked the court for more time to decide on a path forward, pushing its deadline for an answer on how it wants to handle PFAS to later this month.
What Collinsville is doing about elevated PFAS levels
PFOA, one of the types of forever chemicals that the EPA said brings health risks with any exposure, was detected in Collinsville’s finished treated water four and a half times higher than the state and federal limit when it was last tested in August 2024.
The limit is 4 parts per trillion; Collinsville’s drinking water had 18 parts per trillion.
Water testing from August also found two other types of PFAS above regulatory limits in Collinsville:
- PFOS detected at 8.9 parts per trillion. The limit is 4 parts per trillion.
- PFHxS detected at 12 parts per trillion. The limit is 10 parts per trillion.
The city’s highest results since 2020 were of PFOA at 44 parts per trillion in untreated well water from two separate wells in 2021 and 2023.
It stopped using one of those wells in September 2024 after repeatedly high results there even after treatment. Now, that well will be maintained so that it is available only in case of an emergency, according to the city’s public statements on the issue. It acknowledges that officials don’t know where the PFAS in the groundwater came from.
The city has said it is working on a plan to meet the 2029 deadline for compliance with the new state and federal limits on PFAS. Legal counsel instructed city leaders not to comment further, an official said when reached by the Belleville News-Democrat.
In a report on the city’s website dated Jan. 29, Collinsville chief water plant operator Michael Crawford wrote that his suggestion would be for the city to add a 5 million gallon-per-day granular activated carbon system to its water treatment process. The estimated cost of installation is over $3 million, he wrote.
Crawford noted that Collinsville expects to receive roughly $4.8 million in compensation from the settlements in class action lawsuits filed against PFAS manufacturers because it is among the most affected water suppliers in the state. But the city can’t wait for that settlement to start taking action if it wants to be compliant by 2029, according to Crawford. He suggested the city start applying for an Illinois EPA loan for project funding in early 2025.
“Our customers and their families and friends trust that we supply them with safe drinking water,” Crawford wrote in the report. “We know, based on the U.S. EPA’s decades-long research that our water poses a long-term health risk if not addressed.”
Sue Hutchison, who just moved to Collinsville a year ago, was glad to hear the city was working on a plan when she went looking for more information after receiving the Illinois EPA letter in late April. It was the first time she’d heard of PFAS in the water, she said.
“I was told of an issue; my question was ‘Are you fixing it?’” Hutchison said.
Elsewhere in the Metro East, these water systems also had elevated levels of PFAS:
- Edwardsville: PFOA detected at 8.4 parts per trillion on Dec. 16, 2024. The limit is 4 parts per trillion.
- Bethalto: PFHxS detected at 13 parts per trillion on April 26, 2022. The limit is 10 parts per trillion.
- East Alton: PFHxS detected at 12 parts per trillion on Feb. 26, 2024. The limit is 10 parts per trillion.
How to choose a water filter that removes PFAS
For those interested in further limiting their exposure, some water filter systems can reduce PFAS, including:
- Charcoal (granular activated carbon or GAC), which uses carbon to trap chemicals as water passes through them
- Reverse osmosis (RO) systems, which force water through an extremely thin barrier that separates chemicals from the water
- Ion exchange resins, which are tiny beads that act like powerful magnets that attract and hold the contaminated materials from passing through the water system
One Collinsville business uses carbon and reverse osmosis filtering to make its products, which need large amounts of water: the craft beer, whiskey, agave spirits, vodka and rum at Old Herald Brewery and Distillery. Owner and distiller Derik Reiser said that has been the standard routine since opening in 2019.
“Since day one of our operations, we filter the heck out of our water that we use in our brewing process,” Reiser said. “... One thing that we’ve been happy with here in Collinsville, the water is great for brewing; the mineral content is great. We just kind of filter out the stuff that we don’t want.”
Reiser said the restaurant also uses filters for other drinks it serves like soda, tea and ice water.
For home filters, check the product packaging for “NSF/ANSI 53” or NSF/ANSI 58,” which means it has been certified to reduce PFAS by an independent entity.
As of April 2024, when the EPA announced its new regulations for PFAS, filter certifications focused on removing two specific types of the chemicals: PFOA and PFOS.
Editor's note: This story was originally published by the Belleville News-Democrat. Lexi Cortes is a reporter for the BND, a news partner of St. Louis Public Radio.
