A crisis emerges across the US as ‘forever chemicals’ quietly contaminate drinking water wells

By Michael Phillis and Helen Wieffering | AP | February 2, 2026

Read the full article by Michael Phillis and Helen Wieffering (AP)

"Kristen Hanneman made a small decision in 2022 that would upend life for her entire town.

State scientists were checking private drinking water wells across Wisconsin for a widely used family of harmful chemicals called PFAS. They mailed an offer to test the well outside her tidy farmhouse surrounded by potato farms cut out of dense forest. Without much thought, she accepted.

Months later, Hanneman found herself on the phone with a state toxicologist who told her to stop drinking the water — now. The well her three kids grew up on had levels thousands of times higher than federal drinking water limits for what are commonly known as forever chemicals."

Location:

• North AmericaUS
• North AmericaUSWisconsin

Topics:

• ChemicalsPFAS
• SourcesMilitary bases
• Affected community
• Health
• Measurement Techniques
• Monitoring Data
• PFAS Uses