Having green plants in your home can literally bring the outdoors inside. If you are an apartment or condominium dweller, or someone without a yard, indoor plants can bring beauty and oxygen into our lives. Such plants are often called oxygen bombs for releasing this extra oxygen into the air. Some plants also have another benefit. They can filter pollutants and toxins from the air thus acting as air purifiers.
Environmental Issues
If you are living in a large city or near an industrial area, this can be important in maintaining clean air inside your home. Working in an energy-efficient office building with sealed windows can also expose you to toxins from copy machines, computers, and printers, along with other equipment.
In homes and offices with low air exchange rates and multiple sources of air pollution, up to 90% of exposure to fine particulate matter can come from indoor sources. Besides particles and volatile organic compounds such as formaldehyde and carbon monoxide, indoor air and dust can also contain brominated flame retardants, pesticides, toxic metals, and other pollutants. (1)
One huge environmental issue today is the increase in smog, especially in crowded cities. A study by Dennis Decoteau of Penn State’s Department of Horticulture looked at ozone, the main component of smog and poorly ventilated spaces. This study showed ozone was filtered out of air samples using air-purifying plants. While indoor ozone is a bigger problem in many developing countries, due to the burning of biomass for cooking and heating, the colorless gas can infiltrate from outdoors into offices and homes, even in developed countries. (2)
How Plants Purify the Air
The mechanism by which plants clean the air is not completely understood. Plant leaves take in toxins through their stomates, tiny pores used for gas exchange. This process called photosynthesis breaks down toxins and pollutants once inside the plant. This process also releases oxygen back into the atmosphere. The toxins are metabolized releasing harmless by-products into the soil or capturing them in the plant tissues. Pollutants like mold and bacteria are absorbed by the leaves and taken to the roots where they are metabolized and the by-products reused by the plant. (3)
Grow these 8 Plants
An extensive study done by NASA with Dr. B.C. Wolverton, an environmental scientist, has shown the many benefits of air-purifying plants. He also wrote the groundbreaking book, How to Grow Fresh Air. Here are some plants investigated by NASA for their detoxifying properties. (4)
Rubber plant: removes formaldehyde
English ivy: removes benzene, formaldehyde, xylene
Boston fern: removes formaldehyde
Dracaena: removes benzene, xylene, toluene
Aloe vera: absorbs more carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and formaldehyde than most other plants
Peace lily: absorbs formaldehyde, benzene, xylene, trichloroethylene, ammonia
Spider plant: removes gasoline, formaldehyde, styrene, carbon monoxide
Chrysanthemum: removes large amounts of formaldehyde
Even if you do not have a green thumb, growing a few of these plants can beautify your living spaces while being beneficial for your body and mind. Plants can make people more contemplative, self-reflective, and happier so begin growing today.
