Indoor Plants: Winning the Battle for Clean Air

Back in the eighties, people started getting sick in new buildings. This became known as Sick Building Syndrome. Sick Building Syndrome is cause by VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds) which at room temperature easily become vapours and gasses such as Formaldehyde, Benzene and Trichloroethylene.

Formaldehyde is colourless and strong-smelling. It’s still used today in making building materials and many household products especially pressed-wood products, such as particleboard, plywood, and fibreboard; glues and adhesives; permanent-press fabrics; flooring; furniture; paper product coatings; and some insulation materials.

Benzene is fuel, a petrochemical found in crude oil, it’s also used in the manufacture of plastics, resins, synthetic fibres, rubber lubricants, dyes, detergents, drugs and pesticides.
Trichloroethylene is an industrial solvent.

And while we don’t hear as much about them today those VOC’s are still compromising our health.

Modern buildings are tightly sealed homes and offices and many of our building materials and beautiful furnishings, as well as the cleaners and disinfectants, not to mention office equipment, hobby supplies and automotive products contain these harmful VOC’s which increase the stress on your body, compromising its function and your immune system.

That’s where indoor plants can help. They are not only decorative, but also health enhancing, absorbing harmful gases and cleaning the air. Plus they help calm the mind.

Dr. Bill Wolverton lead a NASA study into plants for the purpose of creating biospheres in space that could support human life and along the way discovered some very important findings that tell us that plants are useful in absorbing these toxic fumes and cleaning the air inside buildings. Some are better at the job than others.

He estimates that 15 to 20 Golden Pathos and Spider Plants can clean and refresh the air in an average 160sqm home. In the initial studies common interior plants were sealed in plexiglass chambers, then Formaldehyde was introduced. Within 24 hours 3 plants Philodendron, Spider Plant and Golden Pathos removed 80% of the Formaldehyde from the chambers. Draceana massangeana, Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily), Golden Pathos and Aglonema (Chinese Evergreen) were also good performers. Flowering plants such as Gerbera and Chrysanthemum are also extremely effective in purifying indoor air. You can also consider Succulents, Bromeliads, Mother In Laws Tongue, Rubber Plant, English Ivy, Boston Fern, Crotons, Anthurium, Poinsettia, Cyclamen and

We have long known that during the daylight hours most plants absorb carbon-dioxide and release oxygen (photosynthesis) but did you know there are some plants that do this at night as well? It’s because of their ability to perform a type of photosynthesis called Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM). Why does this matter?

Well you may be aware that it’s good practice to remove flowers and plants from rooms where people are sleeping at night, but there are some plants where it’s actually better to leave them in the room because they oxygenate the air at night and during the day provided there is some low level light.

These include: Areca Palm, Neem Tree, Snake Plant, Aloe Vera, Gerbera, Christmas Cactus, Rama Tulsi, Peepal Tree and Orchids, which may explain why they are such a popular gift for those who are sick.

As these studies were done in the 80’s before plants like the ZZ Plant and Yucca became common houseplants they weren’t part of the experiment and thus aren’t on the list. This doesn’t mean they are not beneficial to have inside your home.

One of the characteristics of a plant that’s good at cleaning the air is thin narrow leaves, another characteristic is the plant root soil zone. Plants absorb volatile organic compounds from the air into their leaves and then translocate them to their root zone, where microbes break them down.

All this means that surrounding yourself with plants in your home and office is a good thing for your health and while artificial plants may look good they are more likely to contaminate the air than clean it.

Plants are also restful, just like an animal brings peace to the infirm plants have a similar effect. They just make us feel good to see them.


Jade (large leaf) for Prosperity - Number 1. Feng Shui Plant!
In Feng Shui we say Jade at the front and Jade at the back and you will never want for anything. It has coin shaped leaves.

Pathos (esp Golden Pathos) It grows abundantly and is considered to attract Abundance

Bamboo is also considered to be one of the ultimate signs of wealth and prosperity. It provides shelter, moisture and has nutritional food value. Think Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Clean Air: Philodendron, Spider Plant, Golden Pathos, Peace Lily, Aglonema, Draceana (massangeana) and the list goes on. Ref: https://www.ourhouseplants.com..../guides/50-plants-th

All of the Clean Air Information leads back to NASA research in the 80's looking to remove VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds) from buildings and Spaceships and space stations. Remember sick building syndrome, basically down to Formaldehyde, Benzene and Trichloroethylene which at room temperature easily become vapours and gasses.