The Association 'Bora Ambientar celebrated International Day of Clean Air for Blue Sky on September 7, disclosing preliminary conclusions of the Respirar Fundo project, co-financed by the European Union under the NOPLANETB – AMI program. The project, operational for more than a year, monitors air quality in the surroundings of 13 Portuguese schools in Basic and Secondary Education in the municipalities of Ponte de Lima, Barcelos, Guimarães, Póvoa de Varzim, Vila Nova de Gaia, Ílhavo, Caldas da Rainha, Sintra, Lisbon and Sesimbra, through portable measurement stations that evaluate suspended particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and tropospheric ozone (O₃).
The reports produced by CENSE (FCT-UNL) revealed that, in the 12 schools already monitored, the hourly profiles of pollutant concentrations are consistent with road traffic influence, with peaks during rush hours. In 9 of these schools, applying the more restrictive limit values of European Directive 2024/2881, which will come into force in 2030, would result in many more non-compliance situations, with average concentrations of PM2.5 and NO₂ exceeding annual limits on several days analyzed.
The project directly involved approximately 1,500 students and more than 250 teachers, crossing disciplines such as Geography, Natural Sciences and Physical Chemistry. The results demonstrate that official monitoring networks, located at fixed points representative of background urban air quality, do not capture exposure levels at specific locations where vulnerable populations such as children and young people congregate, highlighting the importance of local monitoring as a complement to official networks.
The Association 'Bora Ambientar will continue the project from October 2026 with a new edition called "Respirar+Fundo", which aims to expand monitoring to educational institutions in other regions of the country, with municipal support and including environmental education activities and the creation of school weather clubs.
