Need to freshen up your home or office?
Let a plant do the dirty work. For instance, a spider plant gets rid of formaldehyde fumes from your new carpeting, thanks to microorganisms living in potting soil that use airborne toxins as a source of food. Plant roots absorb the waste produced by those microorganisms and release cleaner air in your home.
A team of NASA researchers tested the effect of various house plants on three pollutants found in spacecrafts-benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene. (These same pollutants are found in homes and offices.) They found that houseplants really do help clean the air-some more than others. The study said that for an 1,800 square foot house, 15-18 houseplants in 6-8″ containers should be enough to significantly improve air quality. “Some plants work better because their root systems prefer pollutants and use them as food faster than others,” said team leader Bill Wolverton.
Here are what they found to be some of the best houseplants to clean your indoor air for better breathing and energy.
- bamboo/areca palm
- chrysanthemum
- dracaena
- English ivy
- gerbera daisy
- pothos ivy
- peace lily
- philodendron
- snake plant
- spider plant
Please note that the study said some plants worked better than others-not that there were any that didn’t work at all. Also, they didn’t study every houseplant in existence. So don’t throw out your favorite houseplants if they aren’t on the list. All of them help!