How to Improve your Indoor Air Quality with Houseplants

Chrysanthemums help to filter indoor air.

Decorating with houseplants to improve indoor air quality caught on due to research by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA. Plants remove carbon monoxide and certain known toxins, including benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene. These toxins come from interior furnishings such as carpet, plastics and building materials. These toxins can cause respiratory discomfort and other health problems. Learning about the types and recommended number of plants to use to clean your indoor air will help you beautify your environment and clean your interior air.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Spider plants
• English ivy
• Dracaena marginata
• Chrysanthemum
• Gerbera daisy
• Peace lily
• Philodendron
• Bamboo palm

1. Select plants found by NASA to improve indoor air quality, such as the common spider plant, peace lily, English ivy, bamboo palm and philodendron. All plants help to filter the air by removing carbon dioxide and supplying oxygen. The plants tested by NASA were particularly effective in removing specific toxins, according the the University of Colorado Extension.

2. Learn the care needs for the plant. For example, almost anyone can grow spider plants. Most plants from nurseries and garden centers come with care tags so you can check if the plant's needs for light and water will fit with your home and lifestyle.

3. Decorate your home or work place with plants. Use one plant per 100 square feet to improve your indoor air quality. For example, arrange spider plants on plant stands in the living room or next to your desk so the baby spiders have room to trail down from the mother plant; create a display of philodendron in each bedroom, and position some chrysanthemums on the kitchen counter.

Tips & Warnings

• In the NASA study, certain houseplants removed up to 87 percent of indoor air pollution within 24 hours, according to the Colorado State University Extension.

• Many air cleaning plants root easily, allowing you to increase your houseplant population by creating more plants from the parent plants. Snipping a baby spider plant off the mother plant and putting it in a pot of soil, or taking a cutting from a rubber plant or dracaena results in a new plant at no cost.

References

• NASA Spinoff; Plants Clean Air; 2007
• Colorado State University Extension; Plants "Clean" Air Inside Our Homes; Laura Pottoroff
• University of Missouri Extension; Home Propagation of Houseplants; Mary Ann Gowdy; September 2002