Cleaner, Greener Office Spaces

The modern office (or "Cube Farm") is generally a product of strict efficiency and economic design. Lines are straight, wall-coverings are bland, windows are sealed shut, lights fluorescent, and cubicles ubiquitous. And this is where many of us spend the better part of our lives. Perhaps it’s time to consider personalizing – and naturalizing – these uninviting spaces. And the best place to start might be with a favorite houseplant brought from home.

It’s amazing what a welcome addition a plant can be in the workplace. It’s just a simple little living thing, and yet, perched amid the photocopied reports, Post-it notes, and tangled telephone cord, it has the power to transform even the most cluttered of desktops into something uniquely you -- and special.

Even if you have only one African violet by your elbow, it might be enough to distract you from your spreadsheet for a few moments to examine whether a new batch of flowering buds is forming. Perhaps an office mate will wander over to ask you how often you feed your plant, or where you got it. In a sterile environment, that humble plant is an oasis of life. Your spreadsheet can wait.

And if one plant can work such wonders, what about an office-full of them? Truly, plants can enhance the modern office in ways that most people can barely imagine.

Aesthetically, plants can add color and texture to almost any space, however plain. Taller plants or groupings of larger plants can become living architecture to help direct foot traffic, soften harsh corners, create privacy in seating areas, or add verticality in an unending sea of cubicles. Hanging or elevated planters can create a sense of movement when filled with hanging grape ivy or trailing philodendron vines.

Using similar plants throughout a larger space can also provide a unifying or cohesive element, tying and blending together a disparate array of desks, copying machines, doorways, cabinets, and partitions. The final impression is calming and ordered, rather than chaotic.

Plants can function as eye-catching focal points, or discretely mute or camouflage unattractive features. Above all, they add a sense of vitality to an interior landscape of metal and machines.
They can also play a substantial role in promoting physical and psychological health. Clinical studies in Britain and Northern Europe have shown that plants in the workplace reduced stress levels and fatigue by more than 30 percent, along with the symptoms associated with colds and flu, such as coughing and sore throats.

These green allies can also promote good health by cleaning a host of potentially dangerous pollutants from indoor air. Those veneer-and-laminate bookcases, formica-clad desks, carpets, painted walls, and computers, printers, and fax machines are off-gassing a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including formaldehyde. All-in-all, it’s a nasty stew of bad air, generally trapped – along with you – in a closed loop ventilation system.

Fortunately, there’s Mother-in-law’s tongue. I don’t mean my mother-in-law, Melva, who’s also very helpful and health-conscious, but the plant, also known as snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata). This popular and sturdy plant grows elegantly tall, and sometimes flowers, even in low-light, and it is an absolute whiz at snatching pollutants from the air.

But Sansevieria are not alone in this ability. NASA studies in the late 1970s identified a large number of common indoor plants capable of filtering VOCs from the air. They ranged from aloe vera, which needs bright light, but is easy to divide and share with office mates – and serves as a nifty balm for paper-cut fingers, to magenta-striped dracaena, peace lily, and golden pothos, perhaps the toughest indoor plant around.

Simply put, most of the plants best suited to indoor conditions can help clean indoor air. Moreover, ongoing studies show that plants clean the air not only through the stomata or microscopic pores on the leaf surface, much like the filters in home furnaces and HVAC systems, but also through the action of bacteria in the potting soil, which normally make nutrients available for the plant’s root system.

In controlled environments, the soil microorganisms were capable of removing and absorbing up to 20 percent of the air contaminants. Together with the plants themselves, these invisible colonies represent an indoor living system functioning much like the trees, grasses, and algae found outdoors.

But the real value of introducing plants probably goes deeper than stress-busting, filtration, and décor. In a world that keeps us indoors far-too-long, bringing a bit of the outdoors inside keeps us connected with a larger living world. And beyond the momentary distraction of looking at a blooming bromeliad, the plants also require watering, feeding, and care. They require a time apart from the routine of databases and spam-deletion – a time to actually nurture another living thing. Surely that’s a simple enough bit of occupational therapy.

And then there’s the issue of community – human, not plant. In a world of passwords and name badges, your salmon-budded kalanchoe is a bridge to fellow workers. Perhaps you might divide up one of your succulents for them, or share the decades-old history of your mother’s braided willow-leaf ficus, now thriving by your window. They in turn might bring in a rooted cutting for you, or ask to share a window ledge for their Christmas cactus. That’s how friendships – and communities -- start.

Your office plant can stretch forth your personality, invite a much-needed compliment, and allow you to share and connect with others. It shows, quite humbly, as Shakespeare noted, that “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”

Copyright 2014, Joseph M. Keyser

A Cleaner, Greener Office Space

The modern office is generally a product of strict efficiency and economic design. Lines are straight, wall-coverings are bland, windows are sealed shut, lights fluorescent, and cubicles ubiquitous. And this is where many of us spend the better part of our lives. Perhaps it’s time to consider personalizing – and naturalizing – these uninviting spaces. And the best place to start might be with a favorite houseplant brought from home.

It’s amazing what a welcome addition a plant can be in the workplace. It’s just a simple little living thing, and yet, perched amid the photocopied reports, Post-it notes, and tangled telephone cord, it has the power to transform even the most cluttered of desktops into something uniquely you -- and special.

Even if you have only one African violet by your elbow, it might be enough to distract you from your spreadsheet for a few moments to examine whether a new batch of flowering buds is forming. Perhaps an office mate will wander over to ask you how often you feed your plant, or where you got it. In a sterile environment, that humble plant is an oasis of life. Your spreadsheet can wait.

And if one plant can work such wonders, what about an office-full of them? Truly, plants can enhance the modern office in ways that most people can barely imagine.

Aesthetically, plants can add color and texture to almost any space, however plain. Taller plants or groupings of larger plants can become living architecture to help direct foot traffic, soften harsh corners, create privacy in seating areas, or add verticality in an unending sea of cubicles. Hanging or elevated planters can create a sense of movement when filled with hanging grape ivy or trailing philodendron vines.

Using similar plants throughout a larger space can also provide a unifying or cohesive element, tying and blending together a disparate array of desks, copying machines, doorways, cabinets, and partitions. The final impression is calming and ordered, rather than chaotic.

Plants can function as eye-catching focal points, or discretely mute or camouflage unattractive features. Above all, they add a sense of vitality to an interior landscape of metal and machines.
They can also play a substantial role in promoting physical and psychological health. Clinical studies in Britain and Northern Europe have shown that plants in the workplace reduced stress levels and fatigue by more than 30 percent, along with the symptoms associated with colds and flu, such as coughing and sore throats.

These green allies can also promote good health by cleaning a host of potentially dangerous pollutants from indoor air. Those veneer-and-laminate bookcases, formica-clad desks, carpets, painted walls, and computers, printers, and fax machines are off-gassing a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including formaldehyde. All-in-all, it’s a nasty stew of bad air, generally trapped – along with you – in a closed loop ventilation system.

Fortunately, there’s Mother-in-law’s tongue. I don’t mean my mother-in-law, Melva, who’s also very helpful and health-conscious, but the plant, also known as snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata). This popular and sturdy plant grows elegantly tall, and sometimes flowers, even in low-light, and it is an absolute whiz at snatching pollutants from the air.

But Sansevieria are not alone in this ability. NASA studies in the late 1970s identified a large number of common indoor plants capable of filtering VOCs from the air. They ranged from aloe vera, which needs bright light, but is easy to divide and share with office mates – and serves as a nifty balm for paper-cut fingers, to magenta-striped dracaena, peace lily, and golden pothos, perhaps the toughest indoor plant around.

Simply put, most of the plants best suited to indoor conditions can help clean indoor air. Moreover, ongoing studies show that plants clean the air not only through the stomata or microscopic pores on the leaf surface, much like the filters in home furnaces and HVAC systems, but also through the action of bacteria in the potting soil, which normally make nutrients available for the plant’s root system.

In controlled environments, the soil microorganisms were capable of removing and absorbing up to 20 percent of the air contaminants. Together with the plants themselves, these invisible colonies represent an indoor living system functioning much like the trees, grasses, and algae found outdoors.

But the real value of introducing plants probably goes deeper than stress-busting, filtration, and décor. In a world that keeps us indoors far-too-long, bringing a bit of the outdoors inside keeps us connected with a larger living world. And beyond the momentary distraction of looking at a blooming bromeliad, the plants also require watering, feeding, and care. They require a time apart from the routine of databases and spam-deletion – a time to actually nurture another living thing. Surely that’s a simple enough bit of occupational therapy.

And then there’s the issue of community – human, not plant. In a world of passwords and name badges, your salmon-budded kalanchoe is a bridge to fellow workers. Perhaps you might divide up one of your succulents for them, or share the decades-old history of your mother’s braided willow-leaf ficus, now thriving by your window. They in turn might bring in a rooted cutting for you, or ask to share a window ledge for their Christmas cactus. That’s how friendships – and communities -- start.

Your office plant can stretch forth your personality, invite a much-needed compliment, and allow you to share and connect with others. It shows, quite humbly, as Shakespeare noted, that “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”

Copyright 2011, Joseph M. Keyser

Turning Office Spaces into Greener Places

The modern office is generally a product of strict efficiency and economic design. Lines are straight, wall-coverings are bland, windows are sealed shut, lights fluorescent, and cubicles ubiquitous. And this is where many of us spend the better part of our lives. Perhaps it’s time to consider personalizing – and naturalizing – these uninviting spaces. And the best place to start might be with a favorite houseplant brought from home.

It’s amazing what a welcome addition a plant can be in the workplace. It’s just a simple little living thing, and yet, perched amid the photocopied reports, Post-it notes, and tangled telephone cord, it has the power to transform even the most cluttered of desktops into something uniquely you -- and special.

Even if you have only one African violet by your elbow, it might be enough to distract you from your spreadsheet for a few moments to examine whether a new batch of flowering buds is forming. Perhaps an office mate will wander over to ask you how often you feed your plant, or where you got it. In a sterile environment, that humble plant is an oasis of life. Your spreadsheet can wait.

And if one plant can work such wonders, what about an office-full of them? Truly, plants can enhance the modern office in ways that most people can barely imagine.

Aesthetically, plants can add color and texture to almost any space, however plain. Taller plants or groupings of larger plants can become living architecture to help direct foot traffic, soften harsh corners, create privacy in seating areas, or add verticality in an unending sea of cubicles. Hanging or elevated planters can create a sense of movement when filled with hanging grape ivy or trailing philodendron vines.

Using similar plants throughout a larger space can also provide a unifying or cohesive element, tying and blending together a disparate array of desks, copying machines, doorways, cabinets, and partitions. The final impression is calming and ordered, rather than chaotic.

Plants can function as eye-catching focal points, or discretely mute or camouflage unattractive features. Above all, they add a sense of vitality to an interior landscape of metal and machines.
They can also play a substantial role in promoting physical and psychological health. Clinical studies in Britain and Northern Europe have shown that plants in the workplace reduced stress levels and fatigue by more than 30 percent, along with the symptoms associated with colds and flu, such as coughing and sore throats.

These green allies can also promote good health by cleaning a host of potentially dangerous pollutants from indoor air. Those veneer-and-laminate bookcases, formica-clad desks, carpets, painted walls, and computers, printers, and fax machines are off-gassing a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including formaldehyde. All-in-all, it’s a nasty stew of bad air, generally trapped – along with you – in a closed loop ventilation system.

Fortunately, there’s Mother-in-law’s tongue. I don’t mean my mother-in-law, Melva, who’s also very helpful and health-conscious, but the plant, also known as snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata). This popular and sturdy plant grows elegantly tall, and sometimes flowers, even in low-light, and it is an absolute whiz at snatching pollutants from the air.

But Sansevieria are not alone in this ability. NASA studies in the late 1970s identified a large number of common indoor plants capable of filtering VOCs from the air. They ranged from aloe vera, which needs bright light, but is easy to divide and share with office mates – and serves as a nifty balm for paper-cut fingers, to magenta-striped dracaena, peace lily, and golden pothos, perhaps the toughest indoor plant around.

Simply put, most of the plants best suited to indoor conditions can help clean indoor air. Moreover, ongoing studies show that plants clean the air not only through the stomata or microscopic pores on the leaf surface, much like the filters in home furnaces and HVAC systems, but also through the action of bacteria in the potting soil, which normally make nutrients available for the plant’s root system.

In controlled environments, the soil microorganisms were capable of removing and absorbing up to 20 percent of the air contaminants. Together with the plants themselves, these invisible colonies represent an indoor living system functioning much like the trees, grasses, and algae found outdoors.

But the real value of introducing plants probably goes deeper than stress-busting, filtration, and décor. In a world that keeps us indoors far-too-long, bringing a bit of the outdoors inside keeps us connected with a larger living world. And beyond the momentary distraction of looking at a blooming bromeliad, the plants also require watering, feeding, and care. They require a time apart from the routine of databases and spam-deletion – a time to actually nurture another living thing. Surely that’s a simple enough bit of occupational therapy.

And then there’s the issue of community – human, not plant. In a world of passwords and name badges, your salmon-budded kalanchoe is a bridge to fellow workers. Perhaps you might divide up one of your succulents for them, or share the decades-old history of your mother’s braided willow-leaf ficus, now thriving by your window. They in turn might bring in a rooted cutting for you, or ask to share a window ledge for their Christmas cactus. That’s how friendships – and communities -- start.

Your office plant can stretch forth your personality, invite a much-needed compliment, and allow you to share and connect with others. It shows, quite humbly, as Shakespeare noted, that “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”

Copyright 2009, Joseph M. Keyser

Greening & Cleaning Your Indoor Air

The overall quality of indoor air in our homes and offices has been declining steadily during the past three decades. Concerns regarding energy conservation during the 1970s led to superior insulation materials, tight-fitting windows and doors, and other construction features which have effectively bottled up our living and work spaces. Unfortunately, while keeping out cold drafts, those design elements have also sealed in a host of potentially harmful air pollutants, leading to "sick building syndrome" and other health issues.

Some of the offending pollutants include biological contaminants, such as black mold, and gases like carbon monoxide and radon. However, "off-gassing" is another modern phenomenon that is contributing significantly to indoor air pollution. Off-gassing is the release of various organic compounds by some particularly common sources all around us, ranging from furniture and floor coverings to paper products, printed materials, paint, and simple plastic grocery bags.

The off-gassed chemicals are basically used as adhesives and binding agents, solvents, coatings, fire-retardants, insulators, and so forth. Among the most common is formaldehyde, which is found everywhere from particle board and pressed wood products, to carpet backing and floor tiles, paper towels, and even permanent-press clothing. There is also benzene, which is found in paints, dyes, inks, and plastic, and trichloroethylene, also used in paints, lacquers, and adhesives. There are scores more, but the obvious fact is that we live in a largely synthetic, manufactured world, and now those synthetics are starting to affect us adversely.

As a delicious touch of irony, the solution to our synthetic problems might actually be all-too-natural. Specifically, the answer might be as simple and elegant as the common indoor plant. After all, we have turned to indoor plants to bring a splash of color and vitality to sterile office environments, and to brighten windows and corners in our homes. Like the fern-filled parlors of our Victorian ancestors, perhaps we, too, still feel a certain kinship with nature which prompts us to bring a little bit of the outdoors inside.

Regardless of our motivation for having indoor plants, that humble pothos on a window sill or corn plant stretching up to the ceiling of our office is working overtime to absorb and otherwise neutralize many of the harmful chemical compounds being off-gassed at our expense.

The majority of the research examining plants as natural air cleaners comes from Dr. Bill Wolverton and fellow scientists at NASA's Stennis Space Center in the early 1990s. NASA has been concerned about the long-term environmental health consequences of off-gassing from the hundreds of chemical compounds found on shuttles and space stations. A two-year study was conducted which involved plexiglass chambers containing a variety of plants into which different pollutants were introduced and measured.

Amazingly, plants like aloe, philodendron, snake plant (Sanseveria), and golden pothos removed up to 90 percent of the formaldehyde injected into the chamber. Dracaena, peace lily (Spathiphyllum), English ivy, and Gerbera daisy helped remove up to 80 percent of the benzene in their closed system. And many of these same plants also reduced TCE levels by nearly 50 percent. In fact, numerous plants were effective at removing a broad range of the most dangerous compounds and other pollutants, including carbon monoxide.

Moreover, while the many thousands of stomata or "pores" on each plant leaf handled much of the filtration process, further research revealed that even roots and bacteria in the plant's soil helped absorb some of the toxic substances. It is also believed that over time, plants and soil microorganisms may in fact adapt themselves to absorb even more and different contaminants, turning to them as a source of nutrient, much like nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

Those of us still trapped on Earth can easily take advantage of these exciting findings by simply adding one medium-sized indoor plant per 100 square feet, especially using the plants listed below. According to NASA researchers, just 15 plants can help clean the air of the average 1,800 square foot home.

In reality, of course, adding a few potted palms to your home or office will never provide completely healthy indoor air. Greener, cleaner air requires that consumers and building managers select more natural products for their home and office, whether in furnishings, floor coverings, wall paints, or even everyday cleaning compounds. But, then again, it never hurts to add a few more ficus trees to your lobby or put a couple cheery chrysanthemums in your kitchen window.

Copyright 2010, Joseph M. Keyser

Plants for Cleaning Indoor Air:

Aloe Vera
Areca Palm
Australian Sword Fern
Bamboo Palm
Boston Fern
Chinese Evergreen
Christmas Cactus
Chrysanthemum (Pot Mum)
Corn Plant
Cyclamen
Dieffenbachia
Dracaena Marginata
Dracaena ‘Janet Craig’
Dwarf Date Palm
English Ivy
Ficus
Gerbera Daisy
Golden Pothos
Peace Lily
Philodendron
Prayer Plant
Reed Palm
Rubber Plant
Snake Plant
Spider Plant

More Information

How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants to Purify Your Home or Office, B. C. Wolverton, Penguin, 1997.

Your Naturally Healthy Home, Alan Berman, Rodale, 2001.

“Air Cleaning House Plants”

“Chemicals and the Best Indoor Plants to Clean the Air”

“Top Ten Houseplants for Cleaner Air”

“NASA Study: Plants Clean the Air”

Turning Office Spaces into Greener Places

The modern office is generally a product of strict efficiency and economic design. Lines are straight, wall-coverings are bland, windows are sealed shut, lights fluorescent, and cubicles ubiquitous. And this is where many of us spend the better part of our lives. Perhaps it’s time to consider personalizing – and naturalizing – these uninviting spaces. And the best place to start might be with a favorite houseplant brought from home.

It’s amazing what a welcome addition a plant can be in the workplace. It’s just a simple little living thing, and yet, perched amid the photocopied reports, Post-it notes, and tangled telephone cord, it has the power to transform even the most cluttered of desktops into something uniquely you -- and special.

Even if you have only one African violet by your elbow, it might be enough to distract you from your spreadsheet for a few moments to examine whether a new batch of flowering buds is forming. Perhaps an office mate will wander over to ask you how often you feed your plant, or where you got it. In a sterile environment, that humble plant is an oasis of life. Your spreadsheet can wait.

And if one plant can work such wonders, what about an office-full of them? Truly, plants can enhance the modern office in ways that most people can barely imagine.

Aesthetically, plants can add color and texture to almost any space, however plain. Taller plants or groupings of larger plants can become living architecture to help direct foot traffic, soften harsh corners, create privacy in seating areas, or add verticality in an unending sea of cubicles. Hanging or elevated planters can create a sense of movement when filled with hanging grape ivy or trailing philodendron vines.

Using similar plants throughout a larger space can also provide a unifying or cohesive element, tying and blending together a disparate array of desks, copying machines, doorways, cabinets, and partitions. The final impression is calming and ordered, rather than chaotic.

Plants can function as eye-catching focal points, or discretely mute or camouflage unattractive features. Above all, they add a sense of vitality to an interior landscape of metal and machines.
They can also play a substantial role in promoting physical and psychological health. Clinical studies in Britain and Northern Europe have shown that plants in the workplace reduced stress levels and fatigue by more than 30 percent, along with the symptoms associated with colds and flu, such as coughing and sore throats.

These green allies can also promote good health by cleaning a host of potentially dangerous pollutants from indoor air. Those veneer-and-laminate bookcases, formica-clad desks, carpets, painted walls, and computers, printers, and fax machines are off-gassing a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including formaldehyde. All-in-all, it’s a nasty stew of bad air, generally trapped – along with you – in a closed loop ventilation system.

Fortunately, there’s Mother-in-law’s tongue. I don’t mean my mother-in-law, Melva, who’s also very helpful and health-conscious, but the plant, also known as snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata). This popular and sturdy plant grows elegantly tall, and sometimes flowers, even in low-light, and it is an absolute whiz at snatching pollutants from the air.

But Sansevieria are not alone in this ability. NASA studies in the late 1970s identified a large number of common indoor plants capable of filtering VOCs from the air. They ranged from aloe vera, which needs bright light, but is easy to divide and share with office mates – and serves as a nifty balm for paper-cut fingers, to magenta-striped dracaena, peace lily, and golden pothos, perhaps the toughest indoor plant around.

Simply put, most of the plants best suited to indoor conditions can help clean indoor air. Moreover, ongoing studies show that plants clean the air not only through the stomata or microscopic pores on the leaf surface, much like the filters in home furnaces and HVAC systems, but also through the action of bacteria in the potting soil, which normally make nutrients available for the plant’s root system.

In controlled environments, the soil microorganisms were capable of removing and absorbing up to 20 percent of the air contaminants. Together with the plants themselves, these invisible colonies represent an indoor living system functioning much like the trees, grasses, and algae found outdoors.

But the real value of introducing plants probably goes deeper than stress-busting, filtration, and décor. In a world that keeps us indoors far-too-long, bringing a bit of the outdoors inside keeps us connected with a larger living world. And beyond the momentary distraction of looking at a blooming bromeliad, the plants also require watering, feeding, and care. They require a time apart from the routine of databases and spam-deletion – a time to actually nurture another living thing. Surely that’s a simple enough bit of occupational therapy.

And then there’s the issue of community – human, not plant. In a world of passwords and name badges, your salmon-budded kalanchoe is a bridge to fellow workers. Perhaps you might divide up one of your succulents for them, or share the decades-old history of your mother’s braided willow-leaf ficus, now thriving by your window. They in turn might bring in a rooted cutting for you, or ask to share a window ledge for their Christmas cactus. That’s how friendships – and communities -- start.

Your office plant can stretch forth your personality, invite a much-needed compliment, and allow you to share and connect with others. It shows, quite humbly, as Shakespeare noted, that “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”

Copyright 2009, Joseph M. Keyser

Greening & Cleaning Your Indoor Air

The overall quality of indoor air in our homes and offices has been declining steadily during the past three decades. Concerns regarding energy conservation during the 1970s led to superior insulation materials, tight-fitting windows and doors, and other construction features which have effectively bottled up our living and work spaces. Unfortunately, while keeping out cold drafts, those design elements have also sealed in a host of potentially harmful air pollutants, leading to "sick building syndrome" and other health issues.

Some of the offending pollutants include biological contaminants, such as black mold, and gases like carbon monoxide and radon. However, "off-gassing" is another modern phenomenon that is contributing significantly to indoor air pollution. Off-gassing is the release of various organic compounds by some particularly common sources all around us, ranging from furniture and floor coverings to paper products, printed materials, paint, and simple plastic grocery bags.

The off-gassed chemicals are basically used as adhesives and binding agents, solvents, coatings, fire-retardants, insulators, and so forth. Among the most common is formaldehyde, which is found everywhere from particle board and pressed wood products, to carpet backing and floor tiles, paper towels, and even permanent-press clothing. There is also benzene, which is found in paints, dyes, inks, and plastic, and trichloroethylene, also used in paints, lacquers, and adhesives. There are scores more, but the obvious fact is that we live in a largely synthetic, manufactured world, and now those synthetics are starting to affect us adversely.

As a delicious touch of irony, the solution to our synthetic problems might actually be all-too-natural. Specifically, the answer might be as simple and elegant as the common indoor plant. After all, we have turned to indoor plants to bring a splash of color and vitality to sterile office environments, and to brighten windows and corners in our homes. Like the fern-filled parlors of our Victorian ancestors, perhaps we, too, still feel a certain kinship with nature which prompts us to bring a little bit of the outdoors inside.

Regardless of our motivation for having indoor plants, that humble pothos on a window sill or corn plant stretching up to the ceiling of our office is working overtime to absorb and otherwise neutralize many of the harmful chemical compounds being off-gassed at our expense.

The majority of the research examining plants as natural air cleaners comes from Dr. Bill Wolverton and fellow scientists at NASA's Stennis Space Center in the early 1990s. NASA has been concerned about the long-term environmental health consequences of off-gassing from the hundreds of chemical compounds found on shuttles and space stations. A two-year study was conducted which involved plexiglass chambers containing a variety of plants into which different pollutants were introduced and measured.

Amazingly, plants like aloe, philodendron, snake plant (Sanseveria), and golden pothos removed up to 90 percent of the formaldehyde injected into the chamber. Dracaena, peace lily (Spathiphyllum), English ivy, and Gerbera daisy helped remove up to 80 percent of the benzene in their closed system. And many of these same plants also reduced TCE levels by nearly 50 percent. In fact, numerous plants were effective at removing a broad range of the most dangerous compounds and other pollutants, including carbon monoxide.

Moreover, while the many thousands of stomata or "pores" on each plant leaf handled much of the filtration process, further research revealed that even roots and bacteria in the plant's soil helped absorb some of the toxic substances. It is also believed that over time, plants and soil microorganisms may in fact adapt themselves to absorb even more and different contaminants, turning to them as a source of nutrient, much like nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

Those of us still trapped on Earth can easily take advantage of these exciting findings by simply adding one medium-sized indoor plant per 100 square feet, especially using the plants listed below. According to NASA researchers, just 15 plants can help clean the air of the average 1,800 square foot home.

In reality, of course, adding a few potted palms to your home or office will never provide completely healthy indoor air. Greener, cleaner air requires that consumers and building managers select more natural products for their home and office, whether in furnishings, floor coverings, wall paints, or even everyday cleaning compounds. But, then again, it never hurts to add a few more ficus trees to your lobby or put a couple cheery chrysanthemums in your kitchen window.

Copyright 2009, Joseph M. Keyser

Plants for Cleaning Indoor Air:

Aloe Vera
Areca Palm
Australian Sword Fern
Bamboo Palm
Boston Fern
Chinese Evergreen
Christmas Cactus
Chrysanthemum (Pot Mum)
Corn Plant
Cyclamen
Dieffenbachia
Dracaena Marginata
Dracaena ‘Janet Craig’
Dwarf Date Palm
English Ivy
Ficus
Gerbera Daisy
Golden Pothos
Peace Lily
Philodendron
Prayer Plant
Reed Palm
Rubber Plant
Snake Plant
Spider Plant

More Information

How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 Houseplants to Purify Your Home or Office, B. C. Wolverton, Penguin, 1997.

Your Naturally Healthy Home, Alan Berman, Rodale, 2001.

“Air Cleaning House Plants”

“Chemicals and the Best Indoor Plants to Clean the Air”

“Top Ten Houseplants for Cleaner Air”

“NASA Study: Plants Clean the Air”