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Tip 10: House Plants Make Good Air Filters
Christopher Gavigan
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
If you can believe it, indoor air is often more polluted than outdoor air, and cleaning products, aerosols, air fresheners, paints, and disinfectants are some of the main problems. Children and adults in the U.S. spend 90% of their time indoors, which means improving indoor air quality should be a priority. A great way to combat this problem is to cleanse your air with indoor plants.
All plants convert carbon dioxide to oxygen, but some actually remove chemicals like benzene and formaldehyde from the air.
The following is a list of plants that are known to function as efficient air detoxifiers and remove toxins from air (as well as producing essential oxygen, of course). We chose these because of their high efficiency and low maintenance, although points were also awarded to plants with low light requirements or were esthetically pleasing.
Good choices include:
Peace Lily
Chinese Evergreen
Golden Pothos (Devil’s Ivy)
Snake Plant
Daisies
Chrysanthemums
Spider Plants
Australian Umbrella Tree
Dracaena
Ficus
Philodendrons
Aloe Vera
English Ivy
Boston fern.
Remember that plants need to breathe, too. Dust them gently with a damp cloth, moisten the cloth with milk to add some extra shine. Keep their soil or root area clear - some of the air-cleaning action occurs there.
Posted by catlover on 11/14 at 01:35 PM
Is there a list of plants that are non-toxic for cats?
Posted by Natalie on 11/14 at 04:53 PM
Since we primarily focus on children’s environmental health, this isn’t at the fore of our research. However, as a fellow cat lover, I’ve done some research on the topic and found so many sites, this is what the ASPCA has to say on the topic: <a href=“http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pro_apcc_nontoxicplants” rel=“nofollow”>http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pro_apcc_nontoxicplants</a>
Posted by teren deschidere drum judetean on 02/23 at 07:20 AM
Houseplants clean up to 87% of the air pollutants in the air of an average home. Just as nature intended, plants in the home can filter the air that we breathe. Plants can take any stale indoor room, purify it, and renew it.
Posted by Bulimia Treatment on 05/06 at 12:33 PM
Of course that you need to refresh the air in your house, that is quite logic to me… I open the windows for 10-15 minutes every morning and every evening. This procedure helps the air refresh.
Posted by Katie on 04/24 at 01:59 PM
There is a TED talk on this! (See link: 4-minute video.) The plants they recommend are Areca palm, Snake plant/mother-in-law’s tongue, and Money plant (epipremnum aureum). The statistics given in the video about the Delhi office building are fascinating!
Posted by MARLA WESSEL on 10/15 at 09:01 PM
REMEMBER THAT PLANTS CAN CONTAIN MOLDS OR GROW MOLDS - YOU MIGHT THROW THAT POSSIBILITY INTO THE SOLUTION AND OFFER HOW TO AVOID MOLD GROWTH ON ONE’S HOUSE PLANTS (HOW DO YOU?)
THANKS FOR AN OTHERWISE GOOD TIP!