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Do you realise that indoor plants remove
hazardous substances from the air in your house or office? Well the NASA Space Research
program has been testing a wide range of indoor plants for over 25 years and the results
are quite compelling. It seems our smelly bodies give
off vapours collectively called volatile organic compounds from sweating, belching and you
know what and these bio-effluents can be removed from the air we breath in close quarters
by common indoor plants.
Then there are the hazardous vapours created by synthetic
surfaces, such as glues, stains and paints, carpets, cosmetics, cleaning compounds, paper
towels, tobacco smoke, upholstery and wall coverings to mention a few. These create
emissions of formaldehyde, xylene and toluene, benzene, ammonia, alcohols and acetone to
varying degrees. And that’s only the short list!
The good news is that indoor plants and in particular at
least 50 that we commonly grow, will remove these hazardous vapours from the air we
breathe and that you don’t need a jungle for them to work. As few as three plants
placed near your personal breathing zone. That’s 0.25 cu. metres (8 cubic feet)
around you where you might spend several hours watching television or ironing, sleeping or
working at a computer.
According to Dr Bill Wolverton who conducted the NASA
research, it seems almost any Palm is excellent at removing these hazardous vapours, as
well as the "Peace Lily", "Happy Plant", Dracaenas such as ‘Janet
Craig’, your "Devil’s Ivy" and even "English Ivy". Ficus of
all sorts, "Boston Fern", even flowering plants such as Gerberas, Cyclamen and
Chrysanthemums growing in pots of course. The details are in a book by BC Wolverton called
"Eco-friendly houseplants". I got mine recently from Dymocks for $29.95.
So what do these vapours cause anyhow? It seems allergies,
asthma, eye, nose and throat irritations, fatigue, sinus congestion and nervous system
disorders. Sounds to me as though living indoor plants should be prescribed by your
Doctor! |
