Wondering what type of plants work best in your home? Well.. if you’re just going by looks, you can go to your local nursery and decide for yourself. Your local nursery will show you what plants you can grow indoors and what specific requirements they have in terms of water and light. However, if you want to know about which ones can lower indoor air pollution, there was a study done by NASA to help you decide.

The study was originally intended to find ways to clean up the air in space.. but the knowledge is very useful here as well.

Indoor air pollution is often worse than outdoor air due to all the chemicals we have in our homes. From cleaners and disinfectants to the VOC’s emitted from carpets and paints etc, indoor air pollution sometimes builds up.

The study showed that many houseplants also remove harmful elements such as trichloroethylene, benzene, and formaldehyde from the air.. plus they’re all removing CO2 anyways.

English Ivy

Three main chemicals are found in your home. Trichloroethylene is used in paints and varnishes, Formaldehyde is used in many building materials and Benzene is found often in paints.

Although all plants help indoor air pollution, some are better than others in absorbing chemicals and removing CO2

You can get most of these houseplants right from your nursery. It’s always handy to have some plants in your home.. but these are some of the best:

  • Philodendron scandens or domesticum
  • Dracaena
  • English ivy
  • Spider plant
  • golden pothos
  • peace lily
  • Chinese evergreen
Spider Plant

Here’s a couple links to a couple of the studies done by NASA:

Here and Here
The below excepts are directly from NASA.. the first quote indicates how the plants do it:

“NASA’s research with foliage houseplants during the past 10 years has produced a new concept in indoor air quality improvement. This new and exciting technology is quite simple. Both plant leaves and roots are utilized in removing trace levels of toxic vapors from inside tightly sealed buildings. Low levels of chemicals such as carbon monoxide and formaldehyde can be removed from indoor environments by plant leaves alone, while higher concentrations of numerous toxic chemicals can be removed by filtering indoor air through the plant roots surrounded by activated carbon. The activated carbon absorbs large quantities of the toxic chemicals and retains them until the plant roots and associated microorganisms degrade and assimilate these chemicals.”

“The technology of using houseplant leaves for reducing volatile organics inside closed facilities has been demonstrated with formaldehyde and benzene. Philodendrons are among the most effective plants tested to date.”

More:

  1. Andrea – the living air filter
  2. Silver LEED Certification with use of indoor plants
  3. Natural air cleaning
  4. Matt’s Do it yourself suggestions on materials and plants