Cleaning the Air at Home

Article by healthybalance.com staff
Posted on August 19, 2008

Houseplants Clear the Air

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, indoor air pollution is five times worse than outdoor pollution. Smoke and gas fumes from cooking, mold in moist bathrooms and basements and dust hanging out under sofas and bedroom furniture can all make you sick.

Here’s some good news: houseplants actually filter your indoor air and reduce the amount of pollutants floating about in it.

In its efforts to find ways to keep space station air healthy, scientists at NASA launched a study in conjunction with the Associated Landscape Contractors to find out if houseplants helped indoor air quality.

Former NASA senior research scientist, Dr. Bill Wolverton, stated, “We feel that future results will provide an even stronger argument that common indoor landscaping plants can be a very effective part of a system used to provide pollution free homes and work places.”

Dr. Natalie Jeremijenko, who runs an environmental health clinic in New York City, also prescribes houseplants, lots of them. Why? Indoor air quality is her clients’ chief concern.

Houseplants clean the air by absorbing airborne contaminants—contaminants from cooking, heating and other indoor air pollution sources. NASA found that philodendrons, spider plants and golden pothos were most effective in removing formaldehyde while gerbera daisies and chrysanthemums were the superior choice for removing benzene. “Plants take substances out of the air through the tiny openings in their leaves,” Wolverton explained. “But research in our laboratories has determined that plant leaves, roots and soil bacteria are all important in removing trace levels of toxic vapors.”
Bamboo palm, Chinese evergreen, English ivy, marginata, mass cane/corn plant, mother-in-law’s tongue, peace lily and warneckii are other houseplants that were found to work well for cleaning up indoor air pollution.

10 More Steps to Cleaner Indoor Air

1. If you rely on a wood stove, fireplace, or gas for your source of heat, install a carbon monoxide detector. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include: fatigue, nausea, headaches and muscle pain or weakness.

2. Check your range; yellow tipped flames indicate poor burning performance that releases carbon monoxide into the home.
3. Quit smoking or if you must smoke, do it outdoors. Cigarette smoke can cause runny noses, colds, asthma, ear infections and eye infections.
4. If your home was built before 1970, check for lead. Lead poisoning causes attention deficit disorder, personality changes, hearing loss, tremor, lack of coordination.
5. If your house has a basement, test for radon, a major cause of lung cancer.
6. Eliminate mold and decay in your basement and/or crawl space. Mold causes allergies and asthma.
7. Dust and vacuum to reduce lung problems like asthma or allergies.
8. Use non-toxic “green” cleaners and detergents. Better yet, do most of your cleaning with good old fashioned baking soda, vinegar and borax.

9. Avoid air fresheners. Many emit dangerous VOCs and have been linked to headaches, migraines, depression and other health maladies.

10. Air it out. Open windows and doors to let in fresh air on a regular basis.