Latest Stories

· Schools near industry face chemical peril

The exposure to toxic chemicals in the air outside some schools appears so high that students could be at risk of suffering a range of ailments, from asthma to cancer.

· 'Weird' smell set off investigation at Ohio school

After an annual Oktoberfest celebration at school, parents pushed for action to address pollution issues.

· No one knows what level of chemicals harms children

Most safety assessments based on the effect chemicals have on adults in workplace, not on kids at school.

· Air tests reveal elevated levels of toxics at schools

The exposure to toxic chemicals in the air at some schools is so high that students are at risk of suffering a range of ailments, from asthma to cancer.

· Officials vow air near schools will be tested for toxics

The chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Barbara Boxer, pledges to "do what I have to do" to ensure monitoring across the U.S. Boxer calls lack of monitoring a "shocking story of child neglect."

· Cooperation helped Louisville pull off a cleanup coup

For years, Louisville has been known for fast horses, fine bourbon, a love of college basketball — and lousy air.

· Young students often most vulnerable to toxic air

USA TODAY found 20,000 schools within a half-mile of a major industrial plant that emits potentially dangerous chemicals. Many of those locations are elementary or pre-kindergarten schools.

· Possible air hazards rarely considered in plans for schools

Twenty-three states have no regulations to compel school officials to consider environmental dangers when picking a spot to build.

· EPA nominee pledges to address toxic hot spots around schools

President-elect Barack Obama's choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency promised Wednesday that she would deploy federal regulators to check air quality around schools in response to a USA TODAY investigation that identified hundreds of schools that appeared to be in toxic hot spots.

· EPA nominee pledges to use science

The nation's environmental policies should be based on science, not interference from political appointees, President-elect Barack Obama's nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency told Senate lawmakers.

· EPA: Air tests near schools a priority

In an unprecedented step aimed at protecting children from toxic chemicals, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce plans Monday to determine whether industrial pollution taints the air outside schools across the nation.

· States' tests of air questioned

State environmental officials in Louisiana and Pennsylvania have released results of short-term air monitoring for toxic chemicals near schools, and in both states officials say the tests showed no health threats.

FULL AIR MONITORING REPORTS:
Louisiana's state report
Midland, Pa., Elementary/Middle School
Phoenixville, Pa., Area Kindergarten Center
Stony Brook Elementary School, York, Penn.
Wayne Middle School, Erie, Penn.

· EPA announces schools for air quality checks

In its most sweeping effort to determine whether toxic chemicals permeate the air schoolchildren breathe, the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce plans today to monitor the air outside 62 schools in 22 states.

· Schools glad to have EPA sample air

Educators and residents are welcoming EPA monitoring of the air around local schools.

· EPA to review system gauging air emissions

In a move that could signal a fundamental shift in how industrial pollution is regulated, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has pledged to reconsider how it estimates the amount of toxic chemicals that refineries and petrochemical plants release.

· Toxic 'carbon tet' lingers in air near schools

USA TODAY found carbon tetrachloride outside 70 of 95 schools in 30 states it monitored for a week last fall as part of its "Smokestack Effect" series, yet there were no obvious industrial sources to explain the readings.

· EPA study: 2.2M live in areas where air poses cancer risk

The government's latest snapshot of air pollution across the nation shows residents of New York, Oregon and California faced the highest risk of developing cancer from breathing toxic chemicals.

· Testing for toxics at schools sparks questions, lawsuits

Questions remain about dangers from long-term exposures to high levels of chromium and manganese in Allegheny County, which may affect brain development, behavior and the ability to learn, especially in children.

· Chemical found in air outside 15 schools

Outside 15 schools in eight states, government regulators have found elevated levels of a substance that — in a more potent form — was used as a chemical weapon during World War I.

· EPA finds manganese threat at 2 schools

Regulators found high levels of neurotoxic manganese in the air outside two schools in Ohio and West Virginia.

· EPA detects brain-damaging toxic near school

Government regulators have found high levels of manganese in the air outside a school in eastern Ohio.

· EPA vows to do all it can for school's air

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pledged to "use all the tools at our disposal" to reduce high levels of a toxic chemical that continues to permeate the air outside an elementary school in Marietta, Ohio.

Latest Multimedia

· Video: Toxic chemicals outside our schools

USA TODAY examines the impact of industrial pollution outside the nation's schools and explores how toxic chemicals shuttered one elementary school in Addyston, Ohio, three years ago.

· Schools that ranked worst

A USA TODAY analysis of EPA data indicated that the air outside these schools had the highest levels of dangerous toxic chemicals, most of which have never been tested for their effects on children.

· Schools can be hit by chemicals from several industries

Each refinery, steel mill or factory that emits a significant amount of toxic chemicals must report how much it releases each year to the Environmental Protection Agency. EPA periodically calculates how those chemicals are dispersed through every square kilometer throughout the country.

· Video: Leading health expert explains how to use information

Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, Chairman of the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, talks about what parents and authorities can do with information about toxic chemicals that might be outside their schools.