EPA to monitor air quality near schools

As part of a new air toxics monitoring initiative, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), state, and local air pollution control agencies will monitor the outdoor air around selected schools for toxic air pollutants. Specifically, EPA will: collect samples of outdoor air near selected schools over 60 days, analyze those samples for air toxics of potential concern, report on levels of air toxics found and their potential for long-term health impacts, evaluate actions that may be needed to reduce levels of pollutants of concern, and take action to ensure that nearby industries are in compliance with clean air regulations. EPA's webpage on assessing outdoor air near schools, below, provides information on this initiative, the schools to be monitored, background information on air toxics, and links to other programs EPA has in place to protect communities and school environments. EPA will post monitoring results on this site. In December of 2008, USA TODAY issued a report entitled The Smokestack Effect: Toxic Air and America’s Schools, that tracked the path of industrial air pollution and mapped the location of nearly 128,000 schools to determine the level of toxic chemicals outside. The report is available at the second link below.

EPA school air information site
NSBA School Law pages on USA TODAY report