Reduce Indoor Air Pollution- With Plants!
A Guide of Common Pollutants and Plant Solutions
Introduction
The typical American spends 80-90% of their day in an indoor environment (1, 3), and nearly two-thirds of their life in their own home (1). Scary, when you consider that indoor air is more polluted than outdoor air, and may be on average between 2 to 20 times above the EPA recommended guidelines for outdoor air (2,5). Studies have shown that more than 300 different VOCs (volatile organic compounds) are found in office air (3). The good news is that many common houseplants can reduce the amount of pollution in your home or office. Indoor foliage has even been shown to reduce dust on horizontal surfaces by as much as 20% (1). (Take that, everyone who thinks household plants are messy!) In fact, the microbes found in the potting medium (which have a symbiotic relationship with the plants) seem to be most responsible for the removal of the pollutants from the air (3).
Using This Guide
Plants in this guide are listed in alphabetical order by name, with their most common name given first. In some cases the scientific name is also listed for clarification since several plants may share a common name, or a plant may be better known by the scientific name in some regions.
Plants can also be searched by the pollutants they remove by hitting the ctrl key and simultaneously pressing the letter “F” in Firefox or IE to activate the search function, and then typing in the name of the pollutant and pressing “enter” and then “next” to find the first and subsequent plants which will eliminate it. The following pollutants are covered in this guide:
Airborne Particles (1)
Benzene (4) (common sources are tobacco smoke, gasoline, synthetic fibers, plastics, inks, oils, detergents, and rubber)
Formaldehyde (4) (common sources are foam insulation, plywood, particle board, clothes, carpeting, furniture, paper goods, household cleaners, and water repellents)
Trichlorethylene (4) (common sources are dry cleaning, inks, paints, varnishes, lacquers, and adhesives)
Resources Used
1. http://www.greenplantsforgreenbuildings.org/pdf/guest_room_article.pdf
2. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-02/jhub-iap021909.php
3. http://www.greenplantsforgreenbuildings.org/pdf/Symposium_Woodetal.pdf
4. “Plant Tips for Commercial and Residential Environments”, a handout from the Foliage for Clean Air Council
5. http://www.who.int/indoorair/en/
Additional Reading
http://www.greenplantsforgreenbuildings.org/homes.htm
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/indoorairpollution.html
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/insidest.html#Intro2
A Note About Plant Toxicity
When ingested by people or pets, some plants are toxic. If you have small children who still put things in their mouths, avoid plants which have the words “palm,” “dracaena,” and “dieffenbachia” in their names. Other plants on the list may be toxic as well, check with your local nursery or your physician if you have concerns. If you have pets, the ASPCA has an extensive list of toxic and non-toxic plants which you can consult.
