Houseplants and Clean Air
Many of us spend a lot of time indoors, particularly this time of year. We know that the air in our homes can often be more polluted than the air outside, due to cleaning products, chemicals released into the air by furniture and building materials.
One potted plant per 100 square feet will clean the air in an average home or office. Without a doubt, the most important job of an indoor plant is its air purifying abilities.
Formaldehyde is found in virtually all indoor environments. It is used in particle board or pressed wood products to make office or household furniture, in many consumer paper products, in carpets, permanent-pressed clothes, water repellents, and fire retardants. Other sources of formaldehyde include natural gas, kerosene, and cigarette smoke. Formaldehyde irritates the membranes of the eyes, nose, and throat and can cause headaches and allergic dermatitis. It is suspected of causing a rare type of lung cancer in cases of long-term exposure.
So what are we to do? Get a few house plants. One potted plant per 100 square feet will clean the air in an average home or office. Without a doubt, the most important job of an indoor plant is its air purifying abilities.
Certain plants work better than other at cleaning the air in our homes. Here’s a list of a few plants and which chemicals they clean out of the air.
Boston fern, golden pothos, philodendron, and spider plants reduce levels of formaldehyde.
Areca palm, moth orchid, and the dwarf date palm can remove xylene and toluene.
Gerbera daisy, chrysanthemum, spider plants and peace lily can remove benzene.
Other beneficial houseplants include: bamboo palm, Chinese evergreen, English ivy, indoor dracaena species and the snake plant (also known as mother-in-law’s tongue).
All plants produce oxygen through photosynthesis, so any plant you choose, in addition to these varieties, will increase the concentration of oxygen in your home.
I have always had houseplants (probably because I grew up in a jungle of houseplants). The pothos above was on the stage at our wedding, and it’s been cleaning the air in our homes for the past 11 years. I also have a dwarf citrus, a few other pothos, baby tears, mother-in-law’s tongue and few other plants. We have houseplants not just to clean the air, they also provide much needed green in the our home during the dark snowy winter in Ohio.
Do you have houseplants? Are they for cleaning the air or for enjoyment?
Filed under Favorite Plants, Miscellaneous | Comments (20)
We have lots of houseplants. For a variety of reasons. We have the spider plants that all the children started in school, plants that we found abandoned when students left for the year, and grapefruit trees the kids started from seeds. We have several poinsettias that have been gifted to us over the years that I really wish would just die already but I just can’t leave them outside in the fall. But we also have a huge jalapeno pepper in a pot that we carry in and out every year. We just harvested a pepper off it a few weeks ago. Yum.
to Judy's comment
I would like to have houseplants, they have so many benefits and you gave me more that I never even knew about. But I have been worried about bugs that might come with them and lodge in the house…. are there kinds that tend to be more “bug free” that are also easy to tend?
There are old pics in our family albums of this huge trailing vine plant my father used to have…. it was hanging in the living room and then he put the veil/vine all around the edge of the ceiling and into the bedroom, and then into the hall and back to the living room. Wow. Its amazing (and also a bit freaky!) to see :-)
to Mangochild's comment
Most of my houseplants stay indoors all year long (with the citrus being the exception), that way I don’t have to worry about bugs. But I sometimes spray them with insecticidal soap, but usually I check for big spiders and bring them in (I figure any bugs than come in will be eating by the spiders that already live in the house).
That vine you probably are talking about it a pothos (like the one pictures last). This plant grows so long. I keep mine trimmed. The trimmings can be put in water and they root, then you have a free plant! I have many pothos for this reason.
to Susy's comment
We have a couple houseplants, they were more than enough for our small apartment but now that we are in a larger house we have room for some more. I’m waiting until spring when nurseries will have lots of options available to purchase some new ones.
to N.'s comment
We’ve got two house plants. I haven’t the foggiest idea what they are (they’re the same as the last picture on your post), but I got them for free! The place where I worked six or seven year ago had a couple of these plants. The lady who took care of them was trimming them up and gave me a few of the trimmings to sprout roots at home. They’ve been happy ever since and tolerate the fact that I often forget to water them for weeks at a time!
to Pampered Mom's comment
Oh yes, these are Pothos plants. They’re the easiest houseplant ever. They can take low light, not much fertilizer, lack of water. They’re very vigorous plants.
to Susy's comment
Gees, the oxygen levels better be good in both the farmhouses on the farm (my folks and ours) because they are filled to the brim with plants. Every window on the south side of the houses have hanging plants and there are two sunrooms attached to both houses filled full of plants. I love plants and even rescue geraniums out of peoples trash. Why can’t they compost them instead of sending them in the trash. Your 11 year old wedding Pothos made me think of the same geraniums that I still have from our wedding…15 years ago. That’s so cool that you did that too. It takes me about 2-3 days to move all the plants out of the house for the summer and 5 truckloads. It’s just a small plant fetish that I have! I always make the youngins help me move the plants in and out and my 7 year old son has informed me that he is not going to let his future wife ever have houseplants.
I liked this post. Cool one.
Judi
cheesychick’s last blog post..Random thoughts
to cheesychick's comment
I have a regular jungle at the office…with the bunch of guys I work with, it’s necessary! Anyhow, the cats at home won’t allow us to have plants there!
warren’s last blog post..Blowhard
to warren's comment
I like to have a few plants in the house. When some of my favorite orchids are in bloom I bring them in. From what I hear orchids do a good job of cleaning the air.
to lee's comment
Warren – our one cat eats our spider plants, that the only kind we can’t keep.
Lee – oh yes the orchids are very good for cleaning. I’d love to have some someday.
to Susy's comment
Fascinating, thank you for this!!
Frugal Trenches’s last blog post..Bullets!
to Frugal Trenches's comment
Many people forget about the air cleaning power of plants and trees. They are nature’s air purifiers. This is why deforestation should be a major concern of everyone. Forests (and algae) are the main source of clean air on our planet. So if we kill them off, where will our clean air come from.
You can think of houseplants as your own private forest :-)
.-= Darvin @ Best Ionic Air Purifiers´s last blog ..HEPA Air Purifiers =-.
to Darvin @ Best Ionic Air Purifiers's comment
what is the name of the plant number two on this page?
to shielah's comment
I believe it’s a Dieffenbachia also called “Dumb Cane”. It’s one of the most common plants and really easy to care for.
to Susy's comment
[…] the season to feed those indoor plants. Typically plants are dormant in winter and are actively growing from early spring to late fall. […]
to Feeding Indoor Plants | Chiot’s Run's comment
Thanks for the information. We are all trying to do our part to keep the air we breath cleaner – especially in our homes. Plants are a great way to do just that. I just have to be able to keep my cats out of the plants.
to Jane@HealthmateAustinAir's comment
Hi – what is the name of the plant second from the top? It looks like the plant I have in my office, which is not doing well for some reason. thanks!
to Reagan's comment
dah! I see someone asked this already
to Reagan's comment
[…] that pollute the air in your home (and they don’t use any electricity to clean the air). I wrote a blog post about this specifically a while ago, it includes all the different plants and what chemicals and […]
to The Indoor Garden | Chiot’s Run's comment
are all of those safe for pets, especially dogs? I wouldn’t put it past mine to snack on a few leaves!
to angie h's comment