- Air-purifying plants: what pollutants will they deal with?
- Air purifying plants - NASA list
- Apart from air-purifying potted plants?
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Air purifying plants allow you to create he althier living conditions in your own apartment. It is not easy to improve the quality of air outside and fight the overwhelming smog on your own, so it is worth using the power of air purifying plants that will help us achieve he althier living conditions in our own home. Meet their list, compiled by the famous American NASA agency.
Contents:
- Air-purifying plants: what pollutants will they deal with?
- Air purifying plants - NASA list
- Apart from air-purifying potted plants?
Air purifying plantsare one of the ways to live he althier in your own home. And we spend a lot of time in it. According to data from the World He alth Organization (WHO), we spend as much as 90% of our time indoors, not outdoors. Of course, this percentage should include the hours spent at school / work, in the store, at the gym, at the hairdresser, etc. We usually do not have much influence on the quality of the air there, but on what we breathe in our own apartment - absolutely.
Air-purifying plants: what pollutants will they deal with?
Although in recent years, due to the alarming presence of smog in the air in many Polish cities, a lot has been said about the need to raise awareness of caring for outdoor air quality, we often do not realize how much pollution we have at home.
- Biological pollutants- means those produced by … ourselves. These include, among others sweat, dandruff, exfoliated skin that circulate and break down in the air.
- Chemical pollutants- we are surrounded by them from all sides, because we use many chemical products: cosmetics and detergents. Chemical compounds are also present in high intensity during renovation, e.g. during plaster application, in plaster. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are particularly dangerous because they work extremely intensively when heated. VOCs are divided into 3 groups, in the most dangerous group A there are, among others formaldehyde, benzene, arsenic, benzo (a) pyrene, lead, PM2.5 and PM10 dust. Chemical pollutants also belonging to this groupcarbon monoxide (CO). It is emitted by devices operating on gas, petrol, and crude oil.
- Electromagnetic pollutants- do not produce pollutants in the literal sense of the word, but electromagnetic waves, which can also negatively affect he alth. These devices include: TV sets, computers, radios.
- Pollution from the outside- PM2.5, PM10 dust, as well as benz (o) apirenium and heavy metals present in smog can also get inside, e.g. through open windows .
Biological pollutants can cause allergies, the chemical ones - fatigue, irritation of the throat, eyes, nose, and even the development of chronic diseases (including asthma). Carbon monoxide poisoning - odorless and invisible - causes heart palpitations, heaviness, difficulty in moving, and can even lead to death.
On the other hand, scientific discussions have been taking place for years about the harmful effects of electromagnetic waves - some researchers claim that they can be dangerous to humans, others - that they are not. The fact remains, however, that the International Agency for Research on Cancer has entered RF and low-frequency electromagnetic fields into Category B, which means they are possibly carcinogenic.
Worth knowingRemember that some air-purifying plants… may prove to be dangerous for children and pets who want to taste their leaves or fruit. Therefore, it is best not to place such plants in a children's room, and place those in other rooms out of reach of the child's hands and mouth or the paws and mouth of the animal.
Learn more: Poisonous houseplants in your home
Air purifying plants - NASA list
Air purifying plantsis a solution that will help you deal with indoor pollution. To what do plants owe their cleansing power? In the process of photosynthesis, they take carbon dioxide from the air, and give back the oxygen we need for life.
The property of air-purifying plants is to neutralize heavy metals - incl. lead, copper, cadmium and zinc - as well as carbon dioxide.
Potted plants filter out dangerous Volatile Organic Compounds, including:
- formaldehyde- harmful to the respiratory system and the immune system, as well as to the skin. We will find him, among others. in soaps, creams, deodorants, as it is a preservative
- benzene- toxic and carcinogenic, present in adhesives, paints
- xylene- also carcinogenic, used in preservativeswood and varnish
- ammonia- used to clean jewelry, remove stains; causes respiratory disorders, headaches, pulmonary edema
- toluene- solvent for paints and varnishes, used in the production of drugs and dyes
As early as 1989, NASA in its report "Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement"6published a list of plants that clean the air most effectively.
NASA's list of air-purifying potted plants
| golden epipremnum ( Epipremnum aureum ) | Limits the presence of formaldehyde, xylene and benzene in the air. |
| wingflower ( Spathiphyllum ) | Reduces the presence of benzene, acetone and formaldehyde in the air - not only cleans the air, but also moisturizes. |
| low date palm ( Phoenix roebelenii ) | Limits the presence of formaldehyde, benzene, ammonia, xylene, toluene in the air. |
| nephrolepis ex altata ( nephrolepis ex altata ) | Reduces the presence of formaldehyde and xylene in the air. |
| Nephrolepis obliterata | Reduces the presence of formaldehyde and xylene in the air. |
| Stenberg's herb ( Chlorophytum comosum ) | Reduces the presence of formaldehyde, benzene and carbon monoxide (carbon monoxide) in the air. Protects against electromagnetic radiation. |
| aglaonema ( Aglaonema modestum ) | Reduces the presence of ammonia, toluene and benzene in the air. |
| bamboo palm ( Chamaedorea seifrizii ) | Reduces the presence of formaldehyde, ammonia, toluene, xylene and benzene in the air. |
| weeping fig tree / ficus benjamina ( ficus benjamina ) | Limits the presence of benzene, ammonia and formaldehyde in the air. |
| Andrego's anthurium ( Anthurium andreanum ) | Reduces the presence of formaldehyde, xylene, ammonia and toluene in the air. Read also: Anthurium - what is worth knowing about this plant? |
| sapphire liriope ( Liriope spicata ) | Reduces the presence of xylene, formaldehyde and ammonia in the air. |
| whip palm / rapis lofty ( Rhapis excelsa ) | Limitspresence of xylene, formaldehyde and ammonia in the air. |
| Gerbera Jameson ( Gerbera jamesonii ) | Limits the presence of benzene and formaldehyde in the air. |
| dracaena fragrans ( Dracaena fragrans ) | Reduces the presence of benzene, formaldehyde and carbon monoxide (carbon monoxide) in the air. Read also: Dracaena - what is worth knowing about this plant? |
| common ivy ( Hedera helix ) | Reduces the presence of benzene, formaldehyde and xylene in the air. |
| Guinea Sansevieria / Guinea Coil ( Sansevieria trifasciata ) | Reduces the presence of benzene and formaldehyde in the air. The coil provides access to oxygen around the clock as it filters carbon dioxide also at night. |
| fringed dracaena ( Dracaena marginata ) | Limits the presence of benzene, formaldehyde and carbon monoxide (carbon monoxide) in the air. |
| multi-flower chrysanthemum ( Chrysanthemum morifolium ) | Reduces the presence of formaldehyde, benzene, ammonia and xylene in the air. |
| aloe (Aloe vera) | Reduces the presence of formaldehyde and benzene in the air. |
| areka(Chrysalidocarpus lutescens) | Reduces the presence of xylene in the air. |
| elegant chamedora(chamaedorea elegans) | Reduces the presence of formaldehyde, xylene and ammonia in the air. |
| dracena deremensis(Dracaena deremensis) | Reduces the presence of formaldehyde, benzene and xylene in the air. |
| reddening philodendron(Philodendron erubescens) | Reduces the presence of formaldehyde in the air. Also read: Philodendron - what is worth knowing about this plant? |
| fern(Nephrolepis ex altata) | Reduces the presence of formaldehyde and xylene in the air. |
Apart from air-purifying potted plants?
- Remember to air out each room every day for about 10-15 minutes.
- Do not overheat - the optimal temperature in the living room is around 18-21 degrees Celsius, in the bedroom even 17-19 degrees Celsius. The warmest room should be a bathroom - around 25 degrees Celsius.
- Carpets, plush-covered furniture, thick and heavy materials are conducive to the deposition of dust, so it is better to give them up and put them on the upholstery withsynthetic materials.
- In the bathroom, a better solution, giving the room a fragrance, will be mixtures of dried herbs or flowers in bags than spraying it with an aerosol that generates freon particles.
- It is important to properly humidify the air, which can be achieved by hanging wet towels or containers with water on the radiator. Every day, however, about 5 liters of water need to be evaporated, so buying a humidifier may be a more convenient solution.
Sources:
1. http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/248600/Combined-or-multiple-exposure-to-he alth-stressors-in-indoor-built-environments.pdf
2. A. Boixière-Asseray, G. Chaudet, Air-purifying plants. Green anti-smog filters, Muza 2022