HEALTH ALERT: How safe is the air by your school? Look it up!

Air pollution can be damaging for everyone's health, but children and seniors are particularly vulnerable. For kids, developing lungs can be damaged and constricted by dirty, toxic air. That's why protecting the air around where kids live, learn and play is important to the health of our communities. And why information about air quality in these places is a critical tool.

USA Today used EPA modeling data to track the air quality at 128,000 schools across the U.S. Click here to see how the air quality of schools in your neighborhood compares with others the US.

Toxic air pollution can come from both outdoor and indoor sources -- indoor sources, for example, can come from paints or cleaning or classroom supplies. We know that some of the most damaging outdoor toxic sources are vehicles, especially if you’re close to a freeway or major artery.

See how clean or dirty the air is in your neighborhood, and for comparison, look at the air quality around some of the schools around the Ports activities in Southern California. For example, input "Hudson Elementary" in Long Beach, which is located a few hundred feet from the daily traffic of thousands of trucks, a freeway and a proposed massive rail yard. (Hudson Elementary air quality ranks just 3rd percentile in the nation).

The USA Today data confirms what scientists, and policy makers already know: Port pollution has a huge toxic footprint and it's urgent that we clean up the sources of pollutions in a timely and aggressive manner -- the health of our kids depends on it.

You can use this tool to find out more about your or your kids' school.