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A map of the schools where air pollution is greatest, from USA Today.

PS 20 on Staten Island is more polluted than nine out of 10 schools in the country, according to a a USA Today investigative report.

The newspaper looked at air pollution levels at schools across the country and found that hundreds of thousands of students are exposed to high levels of air pollution at the schools they attend. But the study emphasized that environmental scientists haven’t devoted much attention to determining how much pollution is safe for kids.

The report found PS 20 to be the city’s most polluted public school. But Brooklyn has it worst of the five boroughs, with the greatest number of schools ranked among the most toxic. (See the schools with the worst pollution problems in each borough.)

Some good news for New Yorkers: None of the city’s schools were among the 435 worst polluted in the nation.

The newspaper used the Environmental Protection Agency’s pollution model to rank schools on their exposure to chemical pollutants. The mathematical model uses information provided by polluters, along with weather information, to track the likely movement of toxic chemicals in a given area. Scientists and EPA officials stressed that the numbers are estimates that can best be used to identify schools for additional, on-site pollution testing.

Although the EPA sets standards for acceptable levels of pollution in the workplace, it has not set a similar standard for acceptable levels of exposure for children at school. Because children are smaller than adults and still developing, they may be more vulnerable to negative health effects of toxic chemicals. Yet the EPA has done little to assess pollution exposure at schools, USA Today reported:

The U.S. EPA, which has a special office charged with protecting children’s health, has invested millions of taxpayer dollars in pollution models that could help identify schools where toxic chemicals saturate the air. Even so, USA TODAY found, the agency has all but ignored examining whether the air is unsafe at the very locations where kids are required to gather.

Use USA Today’s searchable map to find out how your local school compares.

The ten most polluted public schools in each borough, according to USA Today:

Bronx:

• P.S. 43 Jonas Bronck School, 165 Brown Place (35th percentile)
• P.S. 161 Ponce De Leon School, 628 Tinton Ave. (36th percentile)
• P.S. 62 Inocensio Casanova School, 660 Fox St. (36th percentile)
• M.S. 302 Luisa Dessus Cruz, 681 Kelly St. (36th percentile)
• P.S. 277, 519 St. Ann’s Ave. (38th percentile)
• J.H.S. 162, L. Rodriguez de Tio School, 600 St. Ann’s Ave. (38th percentile)
• Samuel Gompers Vocational High School, 455 Southern Boulevard (38th percentile)
• P.S. 25 Bilingual School, 811 E. 149th St. (38th percentile)
• P.S. 5 Port Morris School, 564 Jackson Ave. (38th percentile)
• Foreign Language Academy of Global Studies, 470 Jackson Ave. (38th percentile)
• Three other Bronx schools also ranked at the 38th percentile.
  

Brooklyn:

• P.S. 373 Brooklyn Transition Center, 185 Ellery St. (12th percentile)
• Urban Assembly School for Urban Environment, 70 Tompkins Ave. (12th percentile)
• The Brooklyn Charter School and P.S. 23 Carter G. Woodson, 545 Willoughby Ave. (12th percentile)
• P.S. 59 William Floyd School, 211 Throop Ave. (12th percentile)
• P.S. 297 Richard Stockton School, 700 Park Ave. (12th percentile)
• P.S. 25 Eubie Blake School, 787 Lafayette Ave. (12th percentile)
• P.S. 304 Casmir Pulaski School, 208 Hart St. (12th percentile)
• J.H.S. 318 Eugeno Maria Dehostos School, 101 Walton St. (17th percentile)
• P.S. 120 Carlos Tapia Magnet School, 18 Beaver St. (17th percentile)
• P.S. 250 George H. Lindsay, 108 Montrose Ave. (17th percentile)
• One additional Brooklyn school, P.S. 257 John F. Hylan School at 60 Cook St., also ranked at the 17th percentile.

Manhattan:

• Richard R. Green High School of Teaching, 421 East 88th St. (22nd percentile)
• East Side Middle School and P.S. 158 Bayard Taylor School, 1458 York Ave. (23rd percentile)
• The Family School, 323 E. 47th St. (26th percentile)
• Environmental Science Secondary School and M.S. 224 Manhattan East Center, 410 E. 100th St. (30th percentile)
• New York Center for Autism Charter School and P.S. 50 Vito Marcantonio School, 433 E. 100th St. (30th percentile)
• P.S. 59 Beekman Hill School, 228 E. 57th St. (30th percentile)
• High School of Art and Design, 1075 Second Ave. (30th percentile)
• P.S. 38 Roberto Clemente, 232 E. 103rd St. (30th percentile)

Queens:

• P.S. 85 Judge Charles Vallone, 23-70 31st St., Long Island City (14th percentile)
• Academy for New Americans, 30-14 30th St., Astoria (14th percentile)
• P.S. 17 Henry David Thoreau School, 28-37 29th St., Astoria (14th percentile)
• P.S. 234, 30-15 29th St., Astoria (14th percentile)
• P.S. 84 Steinway School, 22-45 41st St., Astoria (15th percentile)
• I.S. 141 The Steinway School, 37-11 21st Ave., Long Island City (15th percentile)
• P.S. 2 Alfred Zimberg School, 75-10 21st. Ave., Jackson Heights (15th percentile)
• Newcomers High School, Academy of American Studies, 28-01 41st. Ave. (17th percentile)
• Middle College High School, High School for Applied Communications, and International High School at LaGuardia, 31-10 Thomson Ave. (17th percentile)
• P.S. 78, 48-09 Center Blvd. (18th percentile)

Staten Island:

• P.S. 20 Port Richmond School, 161 Park Ave. (11th percentile)
• P.S. 56 Louis Desario School, 250 Kramer Ave. (20th percentile)
• P.S. 18 John G. Whittier School, 221 Broadway (23rd percentile)
• Port Richmond High School, 45 Innis St. (23rd percentile)
• P.S. 6 Cpl. Allan F. Kivlehan School, 555 Page Ave. (28th percentile)
• I.S. 34 Tottenville, 528 Academy Ave. (28th percentile)
• P.S. 3 Pleasant Plains School, 80 South Goff Ave. (30th percentile)
• P.S. 26 Carteret School, 4108 Victory Boulevard (30th percentile)
• P.S. 21 Margaret Emery-Elm Park School, 168 Hooker Pl. (30th percentile)
• P.S. 44 Thomas C. Brown School, 80 Maple Parkway (31st percentile)
• Four other schools in Staten Island ranked at the 31st percentile.