Five common houseplants—jade, spider, bromeliad, dracaena, and tree cactus—can combat volatile organic compounds in your home from innocent-seeming items such as furniture, cleaning supplies, dry cleaning, paint, nail polish, copiers and printers.
Treehugger.com writer Melissa Breyer reported on a NASA study that demonstrated the effectiveness of five particular houseplants at removing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the air. "They found that certain plants are better at removing specific compounds from the air – this is especially meaningful for indoor air, as studies have shown that interior air can have three to five times more pollutants than outside."* The houseplants that they studied were jade plants, spider plants, bromeliads, Caribbean tree cactus, and Dracaena. "They found that all of the plants were good at removing acetone, but the dracaena plant took up the most, around 94 percent of the chemical. The bromeliad plant was great at removing six of the eight VOCs, taking up more than 80 percent of each over a 12-hour sampling period. Likewise, the jade plant was very good for toluene."*
*Melissa Breyer, updated April 7,2022, "5 Houseplants for Removing Indoor Air Pollution,"
https://www.treehugger.com/houseplants-best-removing-indoor-air-pollution-4857723
Photo by Cori Redford, Flickr Commons
Treehugger.com writer Melissa Breyer reported on a NASA study that demonstrated the effectiveness of five particular houseplants at removing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the air. "They found that certain plants are better at removing specific compounds from the air – this is especially meaningful for indoor air, as studies have shown that interior air can have three to five times more pollutants than outside."* The houseplants that they studied were jade plants, spider plants, bromeliads, Caribbean tree cactus, and Dracaena. "They found that all of the plants were good at removing acetone, but the dracaena plant took up the most, around 94 percent of the chemical. The bromeliad plant was great at removing six of the eight VOCs, taking up more than 80 percent of each over a 12-hour sampling period. Likewise, the jade plant was very good for toluene."*
*Melissa Breyer, updated April 7,2022, "5 Houseplants for Removing Indoor Air Pollution,"
https://www.treehugger.com/houseplants-best-removing-indoor-air-pollution-4857723
Photo by Cori Redford, Flickr Commons
RSS Feed