Save the environment: Using houseplants to reduce air pollutants in your home

Article: Save environment: Using houseplants to reduce air pollutants in your home

To reduce cooling and heating costs, many new houses and buildings have been designed to maximize energy efficiency by reducing air exchange, installing superinsulation, and airtight sealing of their structures. But these improvements contribute to various
health problems because the indoor synthetic building materials,
common household products, modern furnishings, and high-tech
equipment emit or "off-gas" harmful chemicals. This problem
increases indoor air pollution, and it's known as "sick building
syndrome" which can be harmful to human health.

Some of the ways to reduce indoor air pollutants or toxic
substances include the provision of adequate ventilation, reduce
off-gassing from building materials and furnishings, and the
use of houseplants.

According NASA on its website, it says, "In a joint effort
between NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America
(ALCA), research has been conducted on the potential use of
houseplants as a tool in solving indoor air pollution problems
on Earth. Low-light-requiring houseplants, along with activated
carbon plant filters have demonstrated the potential for
improving indoor air quality by removing trace organic pollutants
from the air in energy-efficient buildings. This plant system is
one of the most promising means of alleviating the "sick building
syndrome" associated with many new, energy-efficient buildings."

Research at NASA's National Space Technology Laboratories
(NSTL) in Mississippi has demonstrated the ability of common
houseplants such as spider plants and golden pothos to remove
such indoor air pollutants as formaldehyde and carbon monoxide
from closed chambers.

You can use many common houseplants to remove indoor air
pollutants. Besides their beauty and freshness, plants are
excellent natural filters that absorb pollutants and regulate
humidity. They're one of the best means to produce oxygen and
save the environment.

Dr. Wolverton, who has worked at NASA, wrote two books on
plants which you can buy online or at bookstores:

• How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants that Purify Your Home

• Growing Clean Water: Nature's Solution to Water Pollution

Depend on what you have in your home, there could be more than
one chemical existed indoor. Several common chemicals found in
the indoor environments are:

Chemicals: Carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂)
Where found: Reduced ventilation contributes
to a buildup of such gaseous combustion products as carbon
monoxide (CO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂). CO and NO₂ are the two
primary gases produced during tobacco smoking and combustion of
fossil fuels in heaters, gas stoves, water heaters, gas ranges,
and heating systems, etc.

Carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide health hazards:
Carbon monoxide has no odor, color, or taste, and it doesn't
irritate your skin. Red blood cells pick up CO quicker than
they pick up oxygen. If there is a lot of CO in the air, your
body may replace oxygen in your blood with CO. This blocks
oxygen from getting into your body, which can damage tissues in
your body and can kill you. Common symptoms of carbon monoxide
poisoning are headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting,
chest pain, and confusion.

Nitrogen dioxide has a strong, harsh odor and is a liquid at
room temperature, becoming a reddish-brown gas above 70 degrees
Fahrenheit. NO₂ produces transient and long-term damage to
both small bronchial airways and alveolar tissue lead to
chronic bronchitis. In short, it damages the respiratory airways.

Chemical: Benzene
Where found:
Benzene is a common solvent found in inks, gasoline, oils,
paints plastics, and rubber. In addition, benzene is used
to make detergent, explosives, pharmaceuticals, and dyes.

Benzene health hazards: At room temperature, benzene is
a clear, colorless-to-light yellow liquid that is highly
flammable. Because it's volatile, it can spread to a distant
source in water but readily soluble with most organic solvents.
Benzene is less dense than water and will float on the surface
of water.

Benzene irritates the skin and eyes. Repeat skin contact with
benzene causes drying, inflammation, blistering, and dermatitis.
Acute inhalation of high levels of benzene has been reported to
cause dizziness, weakness, euphoria, headache, nausea, blurred
vision, respiratory diseases, tremors, irregular heartbeat,
liver and kidney damage, paralysis, and unconsciousness. Benzene
may be a contributing factor to chromosomal aberrations and
leukemia in human. In animal tests, inhalation of benzene led
to cataract formation and diseases of the blood and lymphatic
systems. Chronic exposure to even relatively low levels causes
headaches, loss of appetite, drowsiness, nervousness,
psychological disturbances, and diseases of the blood system,
including anemia and bone marrow disease.

Chemical: Trichloroethylene (TCE)
Where found: Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a colorless liquid
with a somewhat sweet odor and a sweet, burning taste. It's
widely used in meta degreasing and dry-cleaning industries. It's
also used in printing inks, paints, paint removers, lacquers,
varnishes, typewriter correction fluids, spot removers, and
adhesives.

Trichloroethylene health hazards:
Breathing large amounts of Trichloroethylene may cause impaired
heart function, unconsciousness, and death. Breathing it for long
periods may cause nerve, kidney, and liver damage.

Chemical: Formaldehyde
Where found: Formaldehyde is found in virtually all
indoor environments. Sources of Formaldehyde are found in
heating and cooking fuels such as natural gas, kerosene. It
is also found in consumer paper products, grocery bags, waxed
papers, facial tissues, paper towels, common household
cleaning agents, adhesive binders in floor covering, carpet
backing, permanent-press clothes, cigarette smoke.
At room temperature, formaldehyde is a colorless, flammable gas
that has a distinct, pungent smell. It's naturally produced in
small amounts in our bodies.

Formaldehyde health hazards: Formaldehyde irritates the
mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, lung, and throat. It is a
highly reactive chemical that combines with protein and can
cause allergic contact dermatitis. The most widely reported
symptoms from exposure to high levels of this chemical include
irritation of the upper respiratory tract and eyes and headaches.
Until recently, the most serious disease attributed to
formaldehyde exposure was asthma. However, the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has recently conducted research which
indicates that formaldehyde is strongly suspected of causing
a rare type of throat cancer in long-term occupants of mobile
homes.

Some of the plants, which were tested by NASA in removing
air pollutants, are:
Aloe vera
Banana
Bamboo palm
Chinese evergreen
Elephant ear philodendron
English ivy
Ficus
Gerbera daisy
Golden pothos
Green spider plant
Heart leaf philodendron
Janet Craig
Lacy tree philodendron
Marginata
Mass cane
Mother-in-law's tongue
Nephthytis
Peace lily
Pot mum
Sweet potato
Warneckel

Before buying plants for your indoor, there're three cautions
to keep in mind:
- Since some plants may contain toxins in their leaves or
flowers, keep the plants out of reach of young children, and
tell them what not to do so that they don't accidentally chew
on the leaves and flowers.
- Some persons may be allergic to houseplants, so make sure
you select the right ones, and see doctors for advice. (Plants
also discharge chemicals such as hydrocarbons, aldehydes,
alcohols, betones, and esters into the atmosphere.)
- Overdamped planter soil conditions may promote growth of
unhealthy microorganisms.

Notice one big difference between your home environment and NASA
indoor environment used for testing houseplants is NASA has tested
houseplants in a tightly sealed building without any air exchange,
while your house may not; therefore, the result of using houseplants
to remove all air pollutants could be inconsequential. In the
publication,"Indoor Air Pollution: An Introduction for Health
Professionals, it says, "As a practical means of pollution control,
the plant removal mechanisms appear to be inconsequential
compared to common ventilation and air exchange rates. In other
words, the ability of plants to actually improve indoor air
quality is limited in comparison with provision of adequate
ventilation."

_____________________
Reports from NASA:
Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement
By B.C. Wolverton, Ph.D., Principal Investigator

Foliage Plants for Indoor Removal of the Primary Combustion Gases
Carbon Monoxide and Nitrogen Dioxide
By B. C. Wolverton, Ph.D., Rebecca C. McDonald, Hayne H. Mesick

Foliage Plants for Removing Formaldehyde from Contaminated Air
inside Energy-efficient Homes and Future Space Stations
By B. C. Wolverton, Ph.D., and Rebecca C. McDonald

Foliage Plants for Removing Air Pollutants from Energy-Efficient
Buildings
By B. C. Wolverton, Ph.D.

Foliage Plants for Removing Indoor Air Pollutants from Energy-
efficient Homes
By B. C. Wolverton, Ph.D., Rebecca C. McDonald,
and E. A. Watkins, Jr.

Article: Save the environment: Using houseplants to reduce air pollutants in your home
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