A study on air quality conducted in 13 schools across the country, including four establishments in Northern Portugal — EB de Manhente (Barcelos), EB de Freixo (Ponte de Lima), EB 2/3 Pevidém and EB Gil Vicente (Guimarães) — revealed that atmospheric pollutants measured at the entrance to these schools exceed future legal limits. The study, developed by the "Respirar Fundo" project, co-funded by the European Union, used portable monitoring stations to measure particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and tropospheric ozone (O₃).
In nine of the 12 monitored schools, the application of the stricter limit values of European Directive 2024/2881, which will come into force in 2030, would have resulted in many more situations of non-compliance, with average concentrations of PM2.5 and NO₂ exceeding their respective annual limit values. Occasional exceedances of the currently enforced limit values were also recorded, particularly regarding PM2.5 and PM10 particulate matter.
The results are worsened by excessive road traffic, with significant increases in pollution levels during morning and afternoon rush hours. The Environmental and Sustainability Research Centre produced the reports documenting these findings.
A new edition of the project, called "Respirar+Fundo", is planned for October, which will involve schools from other regions of the country, with support from local authorities. In addition to air quality assessment, the project will include parallel environmental education activities and the creation of school weather clubs.
