all added up to an overdose of indoor pollutants, and a new syndrome to emerge known as "Sick Building Syndrome", whereby individuals found themselves poisoned by the very air within their enclosed work or home space.

Carbon Monoxide, Formaldehyde, Nitrogen Dioxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Monoxide, Radon gas, lead dust, asbestos fibers, pollen, dust mites, mildew, mold, bacteria, pet dander and other indoor pollutants were poisoning people. Standards were readjusted to allow levels between fifteen cubic feet of fresh air per minute per person and sixty cubic feet of fresh air per minute within buildings depending upon the buildings risk for pollutants. Despite these measures high indoor pollution levels still exist within many homes, some due the consequences of previous energy conservation guidelines, and some because of high toxicity levels from chemicals within cleaning and other common household products that are within the home.

It is up to you to insure that your living area is as healthy as it can possibly be. One simple step is to adopt a few all important houseplants to help purify the air within your home. The houseplants that were shown to best help clean the contained air were surprisingly of a wide variety of species. It was also discovered that the different species of plants were shown to best remove certain or distinct toxins from the air around them. The Philodendron, Spider plant and the Golden pothos were most effective in removing formaldehyde from the air. While the flowering plants Gerbera daisy and Chrysanthemum were best at removing benzene from the air. The Bamboo palm, Peace lily - Spathiphyllum, Fig tree or Ficus, Dracaena massangeana cane, Mother-in-Law's tongue, English Ivy as well as Chinese evergreen species were all also shown to be effective plants for removing pollutants from an enclosed air area. Any of these top air purifying plants would be wonderful to put on your adoption list.

It is important to note before you purchase a Philodendron that this plant is poisonous due the oxalates found within it. This toxicity can be passed to humans through simple touching of the plant but poisoning is most often noticed if ingestion of the plant itself occurs. It is therefore not a plant that is suitable for homes with young children or pets that might accidently poison themselves by playing or consuming the Philodendron.

Sources:

http://www.lungusa.org/site/c. dvLUK9O0E/b.315952/k.4FD/Indoo r_Air_Pollution.htm

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/sb s.html

http://www.colormegreenco.com/ NASA/nasa.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P hilodendron

http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/Sp inoff2007/ps_3.html

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