ITCHING FOR A SCRATCH! LOL!

Probers are trying to get to the bottom of who sprinkled itching powder on the seats of teachers and students at a Brooklyn elementary school, the Daily News has learned.

Teacher and student victims of the prank at East New York's Public School 345 were scratching their heads - as well as other places - after Wednesday's incident, sources said.

The city Department of Environmental Protection is still running tests to identify the substance.

"The itching was terrible," said one victim. "When I sat down, I could feel it through my pants. It was very itchy.

"It got intense. When it became uncontrollable, I had to stop what I was doing. ... It stopped me in my tracks."

"Somebody could have killed me," said another teacher. "I feel it personally, because I have so many allergies."

A haz-mat unit from the DEP got called Wednesday evening and dispatched a unit to the school, according to sources.

"The material is nonhazardous," said city Department of Education spokeswoman Margie Feinberg, adding that tests showed "acceptable air quality."

Feinberg said two teachers were affected, but students and school employees said students had been affected, too.

The powder, which looked like tiny, prickly hairs, was found on teachers' chairs after the itching started.

"You know pink installation fiber. It looked like that, but red," said one witness.

"The students asked if I had been bitten by a bug," said a teacher. "Teachers asked if I'd eaten anything different."

The two teachers went to Forest Hills Hospital after school.

They had to follow protocols in case the substance was hazardous.

"We had to take off all our clothes; We had to take a shower," a teacher said.

The itchy powder was still the talk among parents and students Thursday.

Fifth-grader Matthew Kisten, 11, said firefighters and the haz-mat team caused a commotion, and he saw many students scratching to relieve themselves.

"My friend Emiliano was itching a lot," Matthew said. "He felt bad. He scratched and scratched. I was glad I did not get any on me."

Samantha Vazquez, 9, another fifth-grader, said some of the students felt so bad they went to the hospital.

"My friend had some of it on her face and arms," she said. "Her face was red and her arms, too.

"She came back today to school and said she still felt itchy. It just does not go away."