Having houseplants placed strategically throughout your home is much more than just a decorative option, these attractive living house guests actually help to filter, and remove numerous toxins from the air within your home. Having houseplants in your home can greatly improve the indoor air quality of your home. Just place a few plants in each room of your house, and the air that you and your family breathe on a daily basis can be much cleaner, and this courtesy of these plants ability to remove pollutants from the air around them.
Many individuals are completely unaware that the very air that they and their families are breathing may be extremely contaminated by numerous household toxins. Formaldehyde, Carbon Monoxide, Radon gas, lead dust, asbestos fibers, Nitrogen Dioxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Monoxide, pollen, dust mites, mildew, mold, bacteria, pet dander are just a few of the pollutants that may be poisoning the air within your home. Studies by the Environmental Protection Agency indicate that air levels within enclosed buildings may be up to two to five times more polluted than that of outdoor air levels. These studies also found that the air within some enclosed areas was actually up to one hundred times more polluted than outdoor air pollution levels.
Why? Well, many of these indoor pollutants are actually produced within your home. Cigarette smoking, radon gas leakage, mildew and mold are obvious contributors to indoor toxins within the home, while chemical leakage is another more serious contributor that most people are not aware of. Chemicals leach from common household items such as rugs, paint, pressed wood products, household cleaners, pesticides, photo copiers, and plastics. Cleaners and air fresheners designed to mask those annoying odors within your home may actually add additional pollutants to the air that you and your family are breathing. To add even more toxins to your indoor air may be the fact that outdoor air pollutants are entering your home through an improper ventilation system. Inadequate or faulty ventilation systems allow for the entry of harmful outdoor gases into otherwise air secure buildings.
So how do you reduce these indoor pollutants? In the summer months you could simply open a window and let the less polluted outdoor air into your home. However, this would not be much of an option for the winter months, cooler temperatures and an open window could have your heating bills sending you out to hunt for a second job.
You could purchase an air purifier and for a slight rise in your electricity bill you can allow it to clean your household air. Unfortunately most air purifiers cleanse the air within a certain perimeter and you will usually require more than one to really make an effective difference in your home. It is just a much simpler and more economical solution to invite a few houseplants to live in your humble abode with you. Allow them to filter and clean the air within your home.
So which are the best houseplants to filter the air in your home? Well, a two year study by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration found that the houseplants that were most effective in cleaning polluted air were of a wide variety of species. It was also discovered during this study that some species of plants were better at removing distinct toxins from the air around them than others were. The Flowering plants Gerbera daisy and Chrysanthemum were the best plants for removing benzene from the air. While the Spider plant, Philodendron, and Golden Pothos were most effective in removing formaldehyde from the air. The Bamboo palm, Dracaena Massangeana cane, Mother-in-Law's tongue, English Ivy, Peace lily (Spathiphyllum), Fig tree (Ficus) as well as Chinese evergreen species of plants were all shown to also be very good air purifying plants.
Knowing that having houseplants within your home can make your living space a much healthier atmosphere to live in makes the decision to have plants in your home much more than just a decorative one. Having a houseplants help to filter and purify your household air is also a health smart lifestyle choice.
Virtually any type of houseplant in your living area will help to purify your indoor air, but if you are looking for the top of the crop to take home with you, then any of the above listed plants will work very well towards helping to remove the indoor pollutants from your home. They are the best houseplants to filter out toxins from the air around them.
If you are considering putting a plant on your adoption list then any one of these super filtering plants would be great to consider for your home. But if you have young children or pets in your home, then take note that the Philodendron plant is poisonous due to the high level of oxalates found within it, and the easy going Spider plant may make a much better choice for your home.
Sources:
http://www.lungusa.org/site/c.dvLUK9O0E/b.315952/k.4 FD/Indoor_Air_Pollution.htm
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/sbs.html
http://www.colormegreenco.com/NASA/nasa.htm