WASHINGTON  Government regulators have found high levels of manganese, a dangerous metal that can affect the brain, in the air outside a school in eastern Ohio. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials cautioned Monday that the results outside LaCroft Elementary in East Liverpool, Ohio, were still preliminary. Even so, the samples — taken this summer and fall — averaged well above the level that the government considers safe for long-term exposure. The monitoring is part of a $2.25 million EPA effort to examine the air outside 63 schools in 22 states. The program was launched in response to a USA TODAY investigation that identified hundreds of schools across the nation where the air outside appeared to be rife with toxic industrial chemicals. FULL COVERAGE: Smokestack Effect: Toxic Air and America's Schools Long-term exposure to manganese can cause mental and emotional problems. Manganese often comes from metalworking factories. The EPA expects to issue more thorough reports in the next two months about what it found outside schools. "If we find potential health concerns at any schools, our next steps may include additional monitoring," EPA spokesman Brendan Gilfillan said. Drawing conclusions about health risks from a small number of samples is ill-advised, he said. This year, monitoring revealed elevated levels of manganese outside two other schools where the EPA monitored — one in Marietta, Ohio, and another in Vienna, W.Va. The levels found outside LaCroft Elementary in Ohio were even higher. In nine samples at LaCroft, officials found levels of manganese that averaged almost double what the EPA considers safe for long-term exposure. One sample, taken in September, showed levels 12 times higher than that threshold. The school's principal, Linda Lindsey, said the school's 415 students are scheduled to move next year to a different building about 8 miles from the current building. The EPA also said Monday that it is invalidating the results of some samples taken at 25 other schools. That's because regulators discovered mechanical problems with the monitoring equipment. Tests at 24 sites will be repeated, Gilfillan said. At the other school, Spain Elementary in Detroit, the EPA plans to evaluate samples taken by Michigan regulators. At Spain, the EPA samples showed high levels of one chemical, acrolein, which exacerbates asthma. The state readings were lower than the EPA's but showed levels that exceeded what the agency considers safe for long-term exposure. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more