There is a popular belief that if you keep certain plants in your home, they purify the air. Many plant sellers tell their customers that so and so plant if you keep in your bedroom or living room it will improve the quality of air and remove carbon dioxide and you can breathe in clean unpolluted air but, unfortunately, it’s a myth. Houseplants, while adorable, do very little to purify the air in a room, according to scientists who study the air we breathe. It is not like the claim is false that plants do not purify the air but there are many factors that one has to consider when making this claim. In a way yes, plants do purify air and again there are studies that have reported certain factors are required for this process of air purification with plants.
Popular home decor websites list a range of plants that promise to remove toxins and dangerous chemicals from the air, and several online retailers are pitching air-purifying plants to consumers. In 1989, NASA Clean Air Study studied and saw that there are some indoor plants that do reduce air pollutants. Some of those plants are like English Ivy (Hedera Helix), Bamboo Palm (Chamaedorea Seifrizii), Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema modestum), Gerbera Daisy (Gerbera jamesonii), Dragon Tree (Dracaena marginata), Mother in Law’s Tongue, Pot Mum, Peace Lily, Spider Plant, Mass cane or Corn plant, Rubber Tree, Lemon Butter Fern, Pothos, Philodendron, Parlor Palm, Aloe Vera, Broad Lady Palm, Fittonia Frankie, Ficus, Flamingo Lily. These plants and some more are often kept at home for air purifying by people for years and years and not only do they act as air purifiers but they also make the space whether bedroom or living room or office space look pretty. Often interior decorators use natural plants like these which are considered to be purifying air for home decor. People who believe in Vastu and Feng Shui also keep several plants like bamboo plants in a certain direction of the house for good luck and as natural air purifying agent.
However, in a recent study published in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, Drexel University researchers Bryan Cummings and Michael Waring tested the ability of plants to remove air pollutants. They analyzed 196 experiments from 12 previously published studies and found that houseplants don’t actually improve air quality enough to make a difference in the amount of volatile organic compounds that pollute indoor air.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a class of chemicals that can be released as ‘fumes’ or gases and have adverse health effects. VOCs are found in household products such as paints, cleaners, disinfectants, and air fresheners, as well as office equipment such as printers, adhesives, and permanent markers. Examples of specific VOCs include formaldehyde (used in wood and building resins), methylene chloride (a component of paint strippers and adhesive removers), and benzene (found in cigarette smoke). Traces of these chemicals can be found in outdoor air, but studies that measured the amount of VOCs indoors found levels of these contaminants two to five times higher than in indoor air.
Unfortunately, air pollutants tend to accumulate indoors, causing health problems such as eye and throat irritation, headaches, and respiratory illnesses, and can even affect students’ academic performance. With the rapidly growing number of indoor houseplant enthusiasts, houseplant owners and sellers share a memorable list of the many purported benefits of houseplants. But unfortunately, none of it is scientifically true.
Cummings and Warings had also conducted studies and saw that if around close to 10 to 1000 houseplants per meter square they have space enough for air exchange and they can purify the air. Now in reality in the kind of houses, we live in, that is usually not possible.
While this study indicates that houseplants may not play a role in removing VOCs to improve indoor air quality, other studies have shown that houseplants alter the indoor microbiome and increase it.
Plants can beautify a space, and liven it but not, unfortunately, make the air pure. The spaces that we live in are usually not very huge and we have many other things to keep except plants, hence the air quality is usually very low and buying and keeping a few indoor plants will do nothing to it. Order gorgeous, top-notch live plants for your indoor garden from Leafy Lifestyle and have them delivered safely to your door.