NASA and Indoor Plants

Snake Plant

Rubber Tree

Christmas Cactus

Many of you have noticed and commented on the new plants in the studio. While Jim and I both like how they look, there is another reason we decided to get those specific plants. Since our studio has carpet, and new paint, and plastic on the leaky windows, we were concerned about air quality. We found these reports online:

NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America worked together to study indoor plants and their ability to absorb indoor pollutants. This site lists the top 11 most effective plants at removing the common pollutants benzene, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide. Here, you can read up on 7 common houseplants that help clean the air. This is an article on how houseplants do their cleaning. More research can be done from NASA’s Technical Reports Server, searching for Wolverton, the main scientist in charge of these studies.

Benzene is in plastics, inks, oils, paints, gasoline, rubber, detergents and dyes. It irritates skin and eyes, and can cause all kinds of nasty health problems, including cell mutations that can lead to cancers. Continued exposure, even at low levels, causes “headaches, loss of appetite, drowsiness, nervousness, psychological disturbances and diseases of the blood system, including anemia and bone marrow diseases.”

Formaldehyde is everywhere indoors. Insulation, particle board and pressed wood, grocery bags, paper towels, tissues, cleaning agents, water repellents, fire retardants- it’s hard to stay away from it. It strongly irritates mucous membranes and causes headaches and asthma. It has also been linked to cancer.

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