The Defence Department says it will widen its probe into the spread of PFAS chemicals in Adelaide.

New areas to be tested include St Kilda, Bolivar, Waterloo Corner, Burton, Penfield, Direk, Salisbury North and Paralowie, after initial testing found the chemicals on an RAAF base at Edinburgh and two nearby wetlands in minor levels.

Salisbury Council in Adelaide's north wants answers.

“I'd hate people to start worrying the fact that they can't go to St Kilda Playground and play,” Salisbury mayor Gillian North told the ABC.

“I'd hate to see it blown out of proportion at the moment as we don't know what it's like or how bad it is, so far everything that's come up has come up fairly OK, but nevertheless I understand the testing is important.”

The United States Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) says certain PFAS chemicals are linked to adverse health effects in laboratory animals.

Canada’s National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health said in 2010 that “in a highly exposed community living near a chemical plant, PFOS and PFOA have been associated with pre-eclampsia (pregnancy-induced hypertension), birth defects (PFOA only), and increased uric acid levels — a marker of heart disease”.

But just a few weeks ago, an independent panel advising the Federal Government concluded there is limited or no evidence linking exposure to PFAS chemicals with human disease.