A pilot project called "Respirar Fundo", promoted by the Association Bora Ambientar, detected problems in air quality near Escola Básica de Freixo, in Ponte de Lima. The preliminary results of this study identified concentrations of atmospheric pollutants above future legal limits in several Portuguese schools, with EB Freixo among the establishments where occasional exceedances of the limit values in force were recorded, particularly regarding suspended particles PM2.5 and PM10.
The project, developed since September 2025, covered 13 primary and secondary schools from various locations across the country, using portable monitoring stations to continuously track concentrations of suspended particles, nitrogen dioxide and tropospheric ozone. The data revealed that, in general, pollutant levels show hourly patterns consistent with the influence of road traffic, with increases during peak morning and afternoon traffic hours.
In the specific case of EB Freixo, episodes of higher particle concentration were identified that occurred mainly at night and on weekends, a pattern that the association considers may be related to sources external to school activity, such as biomass heating systems, open burning or dust. This school appears among the cases with the highest incidence identified in the Northern region, together with EB Manhente in Barcelos and Escola Secundária António Sérgio in Vila Nova de Gaia.
The study also warns that, in nine of the 12 schools already monitored, more non-compliance situations would have occurred if the more restrictive limits provided for in European Directive 2024/2881, which is expected to take effect in 2030, were applied from now. The project involved approximately 1,500 students and more than 250 teachers, and the association plans to launch a new edition from October, called "Respirar+Fundo", which should cover schools in other regions of the country.
