STUDENTS FACING PERILS OF POLLUTION; MANY STATE SCHOOLS NEAR FACTORIES, OTHER SOURCES, STUDY FINDS.

Byline: David R. Baker Daily News Staff Writer

Half of California's students attend school within a mile of an air-pollution source, potentially exposing them to chemicals that could cause breathing problems or cancer, according to a study released Tuesday.

Los Angeles, Orange, Alameda and Contra Costa counties fared worst in the report by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit, environmental research organization. In industrial El Segundo and Wilmington, for example, researchers found schools located near factories that spew millions of pounds of pollutants into the air each year.

Many San Fernando Valley schools, from Northridge to Burbank, ended up on the report's list, although none faced enough of a potential pollution threat to rank among the 50 most exposed schools in the state. A full tally of Los Angeles-area schools located near pollution sources was not available late Tuesday.

The report does not address the health risk faced by students at such schools. But Bill Walker, California director of the Environmental Working Group, noted that the chemicals studied - including some metals, gases and soot - can cause a range of health problems.

``Parents have a right to know what's going into the air near their schools,'' Walker said.

The report also includes on the same list schools that could face widely varying levels of air pollution. Hillery T. Broadous Elementary school in Pacoima, for example, is near industries that annually emit an estimated 82,400 pounds of air pollution. Companies near Phineas Banning Senior High in Wilmington emit 8.39 million pounds.

``From time to time we thought we were getting some kind of odor from a factory adjacent to our school,'' said Broadous Principal Lloyd Calvin, adding that he was alarmed by the report.

The study was intended to boost support for Assembly Bill 278, which would help assess and combat the effects of pollution on children. The bill would fund more pollution monitors near schools and base the regulation of specific toxic chemicals on their effects on children, not just adults.

Pollution can hurt youngsters more than grown-ups, the bill's backers say.

``Not only do they breathe faster, which can result in a greater dose of pollution to the lungs, but they're outside more,'' said Andy Weisser, spokesman for the American Lung Association of California, which is co-sponsoring the bill.

Observers noted that the study, compiled from state and federal pollution records from 1995, has several limitations.

It does not, for example, include pollution from cars. It does not tell how much pollution actually reaches each school, showing instead how much is emitted nearby. And it does not say when the pollution is emitted, whether in a steady stream or in more concentrated bursts.