Years of studying and commenting on air quality statistics developed by any number of government and quasi-government agencies have assured me of one thing -- air quality in York County stinks to high heaven.

Literally and figuratively. And it's dangerous to our health, too.

This is not fresh news for those of us who have lived here, since we've received periodic updates for more than a dozen years, at least. Usually they came in the form of a report that York and the rest of south-central Pennsylvania have one of the worst air quality profiles in the entire country.

A few years ago, in fact, York County received failing grades on two government air quality studies at the same time.

So it wasn't much of a surprise to me that a USA Today study on air quality near schools -- a week-long "Toxic Air and America's Schools" series -- resulted in the Stony Brook Elementary School in the Central York School District being listed among the worst 1 percent of nearly 128,000 schools in America.

"Worst" as in quality of air being breathed.

The USA Today analysis showed high levels of chromium in the air, which could result in kidney and liver damage and cancer in the population near the school.

Well, I have news for USA Today. That's old news. Industrial pollution with the potential to cause toxic air quality has been a fixture in York County for more years than any of us dare to remember.

And while the methods used by USA Today to reach its conclusions might

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not match normal scientific standards, we can all reasonably assume, based on more than a dozen years of similar government reports, that it's fairly close to hitting its mark, if not a direct hit.

In fact, the only surprise for any of us will be if, after further evaluation by the Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Protection Agency, Stony Brook is the only school in York County with a problem.

It's my guess, based on earlier statistics, that schools all over York County -- a dozen or more -- would be listed among the worst 1 percent in America if the neighborhoods around every school had been tested by USA Today. That's how bad the air quality is in York County.

Is ... and has been for many years.

Blame it on industry. Blame it on prevailing winds. Blame it on York County being surrounded by large metropolitan areas, where there is more vehicular traffic. Blame it on a lot of things, I guess.

But the bottom line is that the air around Stony Brook Elementary School is not the only problematic air in York County.

That's about what you'd expect if you lived in a place ranked as one of the 50 worst places in America and one of the five worst counties in the state in which to take a breath.

So the Central York School District is not to blame here. Every school district in York County is similarly affected. Take that to the bank.

The question that remains is what are any of us going to do about it?

According to Julie Randall Romig, director of communications for the Central school district, officials in the district were not aware until late last week that Stony Brook had made USA Today's most dangerous air list and that the story saying so was going to be published early this week (as it was).

"We were notified via email last Thursday that they were going to publish the results of a study and that we'd be on a list with 100 other schools. It was a surprise," Romig said. "As far as we know the school property itself wasn't tested, just the area in the neighborhood of the school. As of now, we're cooperating with the EPA and the DEP, and asking them to evaluate the results of the study using their own guidelines."

What else can they do? Not much. Because the quality of air around the Stony Brook school has nothing to do with the school district. All it can do is sit back and wait, keep the channels of communication open. In the end, there's almost nothing the school district can do to correct the problem. It's not a problem of its making.

Like everyone living in that area of East York, the school is a victim in this mess.

The same thing applies to those living in northern, southern and western areas of York County, where measurements of ozone, airborne particle pollution, smog and soot have been off the charts for years. And the schools in those areas, too, of course.

If Stony Brook has a problem, we all have a similar problem.

When all the tests have been taken -- I hope EPA and DEP expand their areas of testing in York County beyond the Stony Brook school -- and the results are in, we can consider ourselves very fortunate if chromium is the only toxin our children (and the rest of us) have been breathing all these years.

I suspect not, since sulfur dioxide, mercury and carbon dioxide emissions have been high in this area, as well.

But I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.

Columns by Larry A. Hicks, Dispatch columnist, run Mon days, Wednesdays and Fri days. E-mail: lhicks@yorkdispatch.com.