April 14, 2008 - DuPont, Nissan, and Archer Daniels Midland have topped an annual list of the largest corporate air polluters in the U.S.

The "Toxic 100" index, compiled by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts, rates air releases of toxic chemicals from U.S. industrial operations based on data from the U.S. EPA's Toxics Release Inventory. The rankings take into account not only the quantity of releases, but also the relative toxicity of chemicals, nearby populations, and transport factors such as prevailing winds and height of smokestacks.

“The Toxic 100 informs consumers and shareholders which large corporations release the most toxic pollutants into our air,” says James K. Boyce, director of PERI's environment program. “We measure not just how many pounds of pollutants are released, but which are the most toxic and how many people are at risk."

This year's Toxic 100 for the first time includes foreign corporations with facilities in the U.S. Three of the top ten corporations in the Toxic 100 - Nisssan, Bayer Group, and Acelor Mittal - are foreign-based firms.

The top ten companies in the Toxic 100 are:

1. DuPont
2. Nissan
3. Archer Daniels Midland
4. Bayer
5. Dow Chemical
6. Eastman Kodak
7. General Electric
8. Arcelor Mittal
9. U.S. Steel
10. ExxonMobil

For the complete list, as well as detailed company reports, click here.