House plants can be a breath of fresh air in any enclosed space, but what those green leaves add to the room isn’t nearly as useful as what they subtract. Any third-grader knows plants gobble up carbon dioxide, but they also filter a variety of toxic gases from the air - gases you probably didn’t even know were lurking in your home.
For example, your unassuming ficus tree feasts on formaldehyde. Yes, even though you (hopefully) don’t keep an embalming laboratory in your basement, without the help of that ficus you’re still breathing formaldehyde released by particle board, furniture and carpet.
Along with benzene and trichloroethylene, NASA identified formaldehyde as a harmful air pollutant commonly found in most homes. For more on where these stealthy, unhealthy toxins are coming from and what plants will help you combat them, check out this nifty chart from Good magazine.
Here’s a short list of some common household favorites and the toxins they capture. You can breathe easy knowing these plants are around:
Pot Mums (Chrysantheium morifolium) – benzene, trichloroethylene
English Ivy (Hedera Helix) – benzene
Peace lily (Spathiphyllum)– benzene, trichloroethylene
Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) – formaldehyde, carbon monoxide
Golden Pothos (Scindapsus aures)– formaldehyde , benzene, carbon monoxide
Philodendron (Philodendron domesticum, Philodendron bipinnatifidum, Philodendron oxycardium) – formaldehyde
Before you buy any new plants, make sure to consider those sharing your dwelling - especially anyone that might mistake a pretty plant for an interesting snack. The Daily Green and Inhabitot both offer child-safe air-filtering plant suggestions, and you can protect pets by checking with the ASPCA’s toxic plants database.
If air-purifying plants have you inspired, pick up a copy of How to Grow Fresh Air by B.C. Wolverton, the scientist who conducted the original NASA study on plants’ ability to filter the air.
