Update: Additional tests continue troubling manganese results in Bethalto
Residents are still demanding answers following alarming results
Mother Abbigail Battuello got her 3-year-old’s hair tested through Analytical Research Labs in June 2025. His results returned with manganese levels off the charts. According to the report, optimal levels were 0.04. His results were 0.170. Unfortunately, the results did not seem to include a measurement with these numbers.
She said her son showed symptoms of autism around 10 months old and is currently going through applied behavioral therapy for 24 hours a week and is not yet verbal. After the independent results from Bethalto citizens showed an extreme level of manganese in the Bethalto Water Company’s service area, including 25 times the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) upper limits of safety, Battuello wondered if those numbers could have affected her son’s development.
Too much manganese in one’s system can result in neurological symptoms, including memory loss and a loss of motor skills. Extended exposure to high manganese levels can even cause a condition known as manganism, which often resembles Parkinson’s.
Battuello lives within a mile of the Rosewood Heights sample taken by independent Bethalto citizens who sent it to Teklab, Inc., in Collinsville for results. The levels were so high, they decided to test it a second time to confirm. The second test had only slightly lower levels.
Since these results were made public, members of the Illinois EPA (IEPA) have been dispatched to Bethalto to conduct their own testing of the water. Local state representatives, Erica Harriss and Amy Elik, both Republicans, have also taken the concerns of the residents of Bethalto, Cottage Hills, and Rosewood Heights seriously and issued a joint statement on the matter yesterday.
Additional testing released to Sunken Press today from Shaun Flatt, one of the citizens in a coalition for clean water in Bethalto, shows concerning levels of both lead and manganese west of 9th Street Hill in Rosewood Heights. This is the sixth sample tested by independent citizens. Like the rest, it shows unhealthy levels of manganese.
It should continue to be noted that Bethalto Public Works Director Rod Cheatham has told us the drinking water is safe for consumption. He provided testing results, also from Teklab. The results were regarding microbiological contamination. Those results were clear. However, they provided no information regarding manganese levels. A subsequent request for clarification has not been answered at this time.
Many residents served by the Bethalto Water Company have been complaining for some time that they have brown water. A Facebook group called Victims of Bethalto’s Brown Water contains more than 1,500 members. Some claim the water has had issues for more than a decade. Cheatham said the village is working to do more flushing and replace old pipes in an effort to improve the water’s quality and remove the discoloration.
In a recent article in The Telegraph, Scott Cousins reported that a filter had been replaced in the water treatment plant recently, which may have fixed the water coloration issue. In that article, Gary Bost reported zero calls from the service area regarding the water once the filter was replaced. In the Facebook group, folks have reported clearer water, but added a “chemical smell” or “blue tint” had been added to the water. An email to Cheatham was replied to with an assertion no new chemicals were being added to the water treatment process.
I asked Battuello when she first noticed something was amiss with her water.
“When we purchased our home,” she said in a message. “Because our brand new fridge needed an ice maker repair 3 times in 7 months. Lowe’s told us they couldn’t continue to fix it, it was our water, not the appliances. Since 2016 (when we bought the home), here are the appliances we’ve gone through/items ruined: two washers, two water heaters, one pool pump, numerous faucets and drains/overflow holes, clothing/bedding/curtains ruined, ice maker in the fridge, nugget countertop ice maker, hose nozzles, one pool liner (three years after pool purchase).”
Her story is not uncommon when perusing that growing Facebook group. Several people have tallied water filtration systems, appliances, clothes, and anything else that touches the water in the service area. While the high levels of manganese and lead found in Rosewood Heights could be attributed to their individual hook-up to the water system, all the samples returned with above safe levels of manganese. Such levels could also contribute to these seemingly common issues within the village.
She said she stopped consuming the water directly around 2020 when she and her family believed it was extremely calcified. She still uses it for cooking, bathing, washing clothes, and for the swimming pool, however. She said that testing her son was the first time she even considered manganese as an issue.
“Because my son has autism we are doing all sorts of testing through functional medicine trying to determine where the dysfunction in his system begins,” she said.
According to the Institution for Functional Medicine, the goal of the practice is to identify and treat the root causes of disease. However, critics of the practice claim it is part of a growing movement of alternative medicine, which includes unproven and disproven methodologies as well as pseudo-science. However, some aspects of it are incorporated with allopathic medicine to build better treatment plans.
“I was not familiar with manganese until this test,” she said. “And I had read in the water victims group this was a huge issue. And when I combined both the complaints and his results, well I have to wonder. The tests were ordered through our doctor, Laura Burton, and we have an apt on Sept. 8 to decipher his results. I did ask her about the manganese and she told me to ensure he’s not ingesting the water, shower filter etc.”
Laura Burton, NP, is of Full Circle Function in Wood River, IL, a Functional Medicine practice. It should also be noted the American Medical Association openly questions the validity of hair tests for diagnosis and treatment of issues. However, hair analysis is described by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as able to provide good evidence of toxicology.
Hair analysis is more effective at demonstrating long-term exposure than blood tests. Battuello said she does not know anyone else in the service area who has conducted a hair analysis. She also added the $400 expense for the test is prohibitive for many people.
“I hope this is helpful,” she said. “Nothing conclusive but certainly not just a coincidence. The safety regulations for what is in our water (food, hygiene products, etc) are not up to date with the current toxin load our bodies are burdened with.”
When asked about other potentials for such a manganese load in her child’s hair, Battuello said there aren’t many explanations outside of contaminated water.
“There are foods that contain it, but none of which my child eats,” she said. “It also says that you would have to eat way more than humanly possible to reach those levels.”
Other causes of such high levels include working in mines and intravenous drug use, neither of which are things her 3-year-old gets up to. In a 2024 paper, several international authors looked into manganese exposure in relation to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), finding high levels of manganese exposure may in fact contribute to each.
Again, it must be noted here, the American Medical Association does not recognize this sort of treatment or testing, however, hair analysis is considered credible for toxicology reports. Also, it is unknown at this time whether those test results done by independent citizens are due to larger issues across the service area or are isolated to those specific addresses or areas. We will continue to follow this developing story and will update when the IEPA discloses the results of their testing.