Air - The Food You Breathe

One of the things I love about Minnesota are the blue skies (minus the 6 months of gray winter skies). There isn't as much air pollution as other large cities. Smog doesn't obscure our downtown skyline. Whenever I traveled to cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles, I never wanted to stay long because of the terrible chest pain I'd get. The reason: poor outdoor air quality. When I was in China, I was told that breathing the air in Shanghai was the equivalent of smoking two packs of cigarettes a year. That was in 2006, I can only assume it's worse now (click here).

China's Airpocalypse (Feb 2013)

While it's easy to see the effects of pollution on outdoor air quality, it's much harder to conceive that the air you breath indoors might be just as, or even more, detrimental to your health. So, what's wrong with the air you breathe? And how can you fix it?

Energy Crisis
The United State's energy crisis during the 1970s spurred the construction industry to make changes in how it made buildings. One solution to making buildings more energy efficient was to make them air tight in order to regulate temperature. However, the combination of low air circulation and the use of modern synthetic building materials resulted in the average person being "hot boxed" with high levels of benzene, trichloroethylene (TCE), and formaldehyde (among other air pollutants) which are all carcinogens and irritants. This contributed to what is known as Sick Building Syndrome where toxins found in synthetic materials become concentrated inside sealed buildings making people sick. Imagine being stuck in a car breathing in strong new-car-smell for 8 hours a day and then getting sick from it.

Offgassing

The way in which chemicals such as benzene, TCE, and formaldehyde become airborne is through a process called "outgassing" or "offgassing". Offgassing is the release of gas that was dissolved, trapped, frozen, or absorbed in materials. An example of offgassing environmentalists like to talk about is carbon dioxide trapped inside of glaciers being released into the atmosphere as the glaciers melt.

The Solution - Indoor House Plants

Indoor house plants have been found to effectively remove a variety of indoor air pollutants, some better than others. In 1989, B.C. Wolverton, a military scientist published "Interior Landscape Plants For Indoor Air Pollution Abatement" with the support of NASA. It was a study on how effective indoor plants were at removing air pollutants. Their findings showed that plants were indeed effective at removing a number of volatile organic compounds from the air. While the original study only looked at 15 plants, Wolverton went on to write a book called "How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants That Purify Your Home or Office." Other studies have since been published on the effectiveness of indoor house plants on removing air pollutants.

The following are 15 house plants that improve air quality. You can read more about them (here). It is recommended to have 1 house plant for ever 100 sq/ft.

Chemical	Pollutant Source	Indoor House Plants
Benzene	Inks, oils, paints, plastics, rubber, dyes, detergents, gasoline, pharmaceutical, tobacco smoke, synthetic fibers	English Ivy, Dracaena marginata, Janet Craig, Warneckei, Chrysanthemum, Gerbera Daisy, Peace lily
Formaldehyde	Foam insulation, plywood, pressed-wood products, grocery bags, waxed paper, fire retardants, adhesive binders in floor coverings, cigarette smoke, natural gas	Azalea, Philodendron, Spider plant, Golden Pothos, Bamboo palm, Corn plant, Chrysanthemum, Mother-in-law's tongue
Trichloroethylene	Primarily used in the metal degreasing and dry cleaning industries; also in printing inks, paints, lacquers, varnishes, adhesives	Gerbera Daisy, Chrysanthemum, Peace lily, Warneckei, Dracaena marginata

Spider plant
(Chlorophytum comosum)

Bamboo palm
(Chamaedorea sefritzii)

Aloe (Aloe vera)

Gerber daisy
(Gerbera jamesonii)

Chrysanthemum
(Chrysantheium morifolium)

Red-edged dracaena
(Dracaena marginata)

Warneck dracaena
(Dracaena deremensis 'Warneckii')

Mother-in-law's tongue
(Sansevieria trifasciata 'Laurentii')

English ivy (Hedera helix)

Peace lily (Spathiphyllum)

Weeping fig
(Ficus benjamina)

Azalea
(Rhododendron simsii)

Golden pothos (Scindapsus aures)

Heart leaf philodendron
(Philodendron oxycardium)

Chinese evergreen
(Aglaonema crispum 'Deborah')

Several words of caution: Do your research before deciding to purchase plants to have in your home. Some plants are harmful to pets and humans if consumed. Some plants such as English Ivy are invasive species that should not be planted outdoors. Not all of these plants are suited to where you might live. Check with a local nursery that specializes in native species.

To Cleaner Air!
Jack