How choosing the right house plant can improve indoor air quality
Bromeliads from the pineapple family can remove more than 80 per cent of harmful volatile organic compounds from indoor air, laboratory tests show. PLUS: why dead-end jobs will get you down
If you are looking for a cheap and efficient way to improve the quality of the air you breathe indoors, try putting a few pots of the bromeliad plant in your office or home. According to a new study, this type of plant – which has over 2,700 described species, the most well known being the pineapple – is very good at removing more than 80 per cent of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the air.
The finding comes from tests involving five common house plants and eight common VOCs – compounds such as acetone, benzene and formaldehyde that are emitted as gases and can cause short- and long-term harm to health when inhaled. VOCs can come from paints, furniture, copiers and printers, cleaning supplies and even dry-cleaned clothes.
Certain plants are better at absorbing specific compounds, according to the researchers. For example, all five plants tested can remove acetone – the pungent chemical that is abundant in nail salons – from the air, but the dracaena plant took up the most, around 94 per cent of the chemical.
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“Buildings, whether new or old, can have high levels of VOCs in them, sometimes so high that you can smell them,” says study leader Vadoud Niri of the State University of New York at Oswego. “Inhaling large amounts of VOCs can lead some people to develop sick building syndrome, which reduces productivity and can even cause dizziness, asthma or allergies.”