Houseplants have been studied for their passive removal of ozone, but they make only modest contributions to indoor air quality. A 2019 review published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology found that potted plants do not purify the air, as they contain the right balance of nitrogen. Air purifiers with high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters can help, but the initial cost and energy to run them can be out of reach for some households.
There are no definitive studies to show that having indoor plants can significantly increase air quality in the home to improve health in a measurable way. Many houseplants have been said to remove harmful toxins from the air, but the truth is more complicated. The NASA Clean Air Study of 1989 showed that several houseplants can remove up to 20% of NO2 in a highly polluted environment. However, the evidence does not show that plants are an effective tool to reduce air pollution.
While plants can improve mood and regulate humidity, they do not clean allergens like pollen, dust, or pet dander. Plants vary widely in their ability to capture particles, with the most effective being around 75 micrograms per cubic centimeter. While a single spider plant won’t purify the air, a green wall covered in plants might just might. While house plants may “clean” air in a closed and controlled environment, the effect in a real-life home or office is negligible.
📹 Can Houseplants Improve Air Quality?
We all have that coworker who insists that the houseplants on their desks are improving the office air quality, but is there any truth …
Do houseplants really increase oxygen?
Plants and humans share a similar pattern of gas use, with plants absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen during photosynthesis. Plants, such as orchids, succulents, and epiphytic bromeliads, can be placed in interior spaces to increase oxygen levels and humidity. Plants release moisture vapor, which increases the humidity of the air around them, helping to prevent respiratory distresses. Studies at the Agricultural University of Norway show that using plants in interior spaces reduces the incidence of dry skin, colds, sore throats, and dry coughs.
Additionally, plants remove toxins from air, such as formaldehyde, benzene, and trichloroethylene, which are found in man-made fibers, inks, solvents, and paint. These toxins are commonly found in study settings, where books and printed papers are abundant.
What plants are scientifically proven to purify the air?
NASA has conducted research on the best air purifiers, revealing that plants like areca palm, snake plant, money plant, gerbera daisy, Chinese evergreens, spider plant, Aloe Vera, broad lady palm, dragon tree, weeping Fig, chrysanthemum, and rubber plant are effective in improving indoor air quality. These plants filter the air by absorbing pollutants through their leaves and roots, which are then converted into oxygen during photosynthesis. This natural air purifier helps reduce the concentration of harmful substances in the air.
In addition to their natural benefits, air purifying plants also offer a natural and aesthetically pleasing solution to air pollution. They can be found in miniatures online, flower seeds, organic seeds, and the convenience of shopping from an online seed store. By incorporating these plants into your living space, you can enjoy cleaner, fresher air in your living space.
How many houseplants do I need to purify the air?
A study titled “Potted plants do not improve indoor air quality: a review and analysis of reported VOC removal efficiencies” found that to achieve the same benefits seen in other research studies, you would need 10-1, 000 plants per square meter of floor space in your home, office, or other indoor space. The jury is still out on whether houseplants reduce indoor air pollution, but the verdict is now in: houseplants do not improve air quality.
The commonly held belief that plants clean indoor air can be traced back to the 1989 NASA study, which found that common houseplants can also remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) like formaldehyde and benzene, which are known to cause various health problems, including respiratory problems and cancer.
Do plants take oxygen only at night?
Plants perform photosynthesis during the day, converting water and carbon dioxide into stored energy in the form of carbohydrates. They respire continuously, day and night, taking in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide to fuel growth and metabolic functions. However, their net release of oxygen is far greater than their consumption. Animals only consume oxygen, making photosynthesis essential for all life on Earth.
Plants grow around the clock, directing their growth towards light during respiration. Growth at night tends to be vertical, unaffected by daylight’s tendency to reach toward light. Some plants may grow faster at night due to their focus on photosynthesis during daylight.
Plants take up water at night at a slower rate than during the day, as the photosynthetic process requires water. However, very little of the water a plant takes up is used for photosynthesis, with most released into the atmosphere during transpiration.
Do houseplants really purify the air?
Indoor plants can help clean the air and increase oxygen levels, but they should not replace air purifiers. They can boost creativity, productivity, concentration, memory, and reduce stress. A variety of plants is most beneficial. However, pets like cats and dogs may be impacted by some plants, so it’s important to choose pet-safe and allergy-safe options. Check the ASPCA Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants page for information on toxic plants for animals.
Which plants gives 24 hours oxygen?
The peepal tree, also known as the bo or bodhi tree, is a tree native to India, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, and now found throughout Southeast Asia. It grows up to 15 meters tall and has grey bark on its branches. The tree has pinnate leaves with seven leaflets arranged alternately on each side, and each leaflet has five double-serrated edges. The leaves are large, up to 30 cm across, and the flowers are small and yellow-green, with a five-lobed corolla. The fruit is a capsule with many seeds inside. In summary, the peepal tree is a unique plant that provides oxygen for 24 hours.
Which plants give oxygen 24 hours?
Plants that produce oxygen 24 hours a day are known as “air plants”. These plants, which have evolved to live near humans and produce oxygen 24 hours a day, can be kept in any home or office due to their small size. They provide oxygen at night, enhance indoor air quality by releasing carbon dioxide during daylight hours, and even purify water by absorbing bad odors over time. Pothos, also known as devil’s ivy, is the first plant in this list that provides oxygen 24 hours a day.
Pothos can grow up to 2 feet tall and thrives indoors with regular misting during winter months or when temperatures dip below 15 degrees Celsius. Other plants that produce oxygen 24 hours include Areca palms, Spider Plant, Peace Lily, Aloe Vera, Gerbera Daisy, Tulsi, and Weeping Fig.
Did NASA classify a plant as an air purifier?
NASA-featured the Money Plant, known for its ability to remove chemicals like benzene, formaldehyde, xylene, and toluene from the air. However, it is toxic to cats, dogs, and small children if its leaves are ingested. The Chinese Evergreen is popular for its high oxygen content and ability to purify indoor spaces of harmful chemicals. The resilient spider plant is a perfect choice for houseplant beginners, as it battles toxins like carbon monoxide and xylene, a solvent used in the printing and rubber industries. It is also non-toxic to pets.
How many plants does NASA recommend?
NASA recommends the planting of one plant for every 100 square feet of surface area, which equates to a density of approximately nine plants per 100 square feet. Two square meters are recommended for residences with an area of 1800 square feet, which is equivalent to 167 square meters. In a residence of 1, 800 square feet, the recommendation is to have 15 to 18 plants. The “Clean-Air Study,” conducted by NASA, underscores the salutary impact of plants on human well-being. Astronauts, too, have benefited from the presence of plants in their oxygen-optimized space stations.
Do indoor plants emit CO2 at night?
Plants release carbon dioxide (CO2) at night, as part of their respiration process. This is a natural process that occurs during the day when plants use sunlight and sunlight to produce sugars for food. This process is essential for plants to survive and survive, as they cannot move around to obtain food. Therefore, it is not advisable to have a CO2 meter in your room, as it can cause health issues if not properly managed. Therefore, it is essential to consider the potential health risks associated with having a CO2 meter in your room.
What houseplant produces the most oxygen?
Pothos is an excellent indoor plant for oxygen production and release at night due to its high rate of conversion. In an experiment, it showed a 6. 5% decrease in carbon dioxide content from 454PPM to 425PPM, resulting in higher oxygen levels. Areca palms, also known as golden, butterfly, and yellow palms, are tropical trees that produce high levels of oxygen and remove harmful pollutants like formaldehyde, xylene, benzene, and toluene from the air. Having two large plants in close proximity can significantly enhance home oxygen levels.
📹 A NASA study explains how to purify air with house plants
How do houseplants clean the air? A 1989 NASA study explains exactly how plants remove toxins from air by trapping them in …
Ugh. Scishow beat me to it. I was in the process of making a article on this very subject since I have a background in both chemistry and horticulture. I have part of it already filmed and on my computer for editing. That is okay. Good work Scishow. You have always been an inspiration to me and I will work on this a bit longer just to make sure I don’t look like I am copying any of your work. Love you guys and your articles. Truly inspired me to help educate. I have been working as a tutor in chemistry, math, physics, and biology for the past few years because of websites like yours.
This was still over the course of what…. 24 hours? Surely due to dispersion it would still have an efect over a wider area and a longer time to purify the air arorund itself, no? I mean, you’re not constantly pumping the air with pollutants 24/7 so it should still be a net benefit to keep the plants around, right?
80% of how well people feel are psychological. So people believing a few house plants improves thier air quality will affect their over all health because they believe it. “Ignorance is bliss” so long as it isn’t hurting us. People don’t always need to know the tiniest details of truth if the knowledge doesn’t help them in any way. I believe this is the case with this article. The over all air quality in “most” homes is perfectly normal. Adding a few plants may only improve the air quality by a single percent or two but it improves the over all health of the occupants by allot more if they even think the plants are helping. There are however a few cities where you may want to consider massive air purification systems lol.
what about having large windows and plants all established at angles, with light circulation air to levels and rooms that are full of plants i think it would be enjoyable to have a hallway of plants, it would be always warm enough indoors, but still closer to the wall with ventelation circulating around their bases so they would get some of the growth and developments, and a roof with plants and solar panels, grown so they self seed and none of their max heights interferes with the panels that turn with them to the sun, and a strong headwind over the side pushing air into an imput vent to the house and feeding a windmill
As it’s spring, and the veg garden starts are inside, I have nearly 500 plants in my house. Does it matter that they’re no bigger than 10 cm tall and many don’t yet have their true leaves? I assume there’s some relationship between total surface area of leaves and any possible benefit. That is, surely 500 rubber tree plants that scrape the ceiling would be better than 500 tiny tomatoes and peppers and eggplants.
Even if indoor houseplants can’t effectively clean the air, there’s still a net positive psychological benefit to having some little green friends hanging around and keeping you company. At least for me, there is. Reminds me I need to find a decent LED grow light so I can keep a nice aloe vera near my desk again.
I like plants so I’ve plotted a hell ton of them but I thought are they enough? After perusal article I was little disappointed and thought its useless should I stop, but comments has set me on fire really motivated to bring more plants in coming rainy season 😂. Remember guys taking their care is very important so if you don’t have time to take care or you just don’t want to take care then don’t have that many plants, few less maintenance plants are enough.
Hm… How about a followup article? I think that a CO2 level over 1000 ppm is quite bad for ones productivity. Can a plante help reduce the CO2 level in a office. (Or how big/many plant do one need, how much CO2 do a plant suck up) Also plants evaporate water and increases the humidity, thus it might be good if the humidity i low and bad if the humidity is high… Also, again 🙂 plants makes flowers and flowers makes pollen and they might not be good for you. I am more confused now, should I have plants at home at all?
I live in a damp, 230 year old sandstone basement tenement flat with no air circulation to speak of and I can tell you now, without question, that my 25+ plants make a difference. The succulents for example don’t need watered that often, once every few months (compared to the recommended once a week). Hell, I forgot to water two of them for 6 months one time and I don’t know how they are still alive. I even have a control room to see if I notice a difference in smell alone (I do) so send me your scientists!
This is like having plants in drainage ditches. Experiments have been done in tank simulants of drainage systems, demonstrating the difference between letting runoff water go straight into natural waterways versus lettings plants filter the runoff water before it reaches the waterways. While letting vegetation filter runoff water is a proven method of pollution control, I think we can all agree that one single houseplant is inefficient for filtering all the air in a room.
But the real question is what plant is best for each indoor space and could pollutants be gather from the air indoors and then directed at the plant in a similar way to the NASA experiment and do these plants excel at removing certain toxins compared to others or do they remove a broad spectrum of pollutants
This article is a bit misleading. Although the NASA study was done in a space of one cubic meter, it does not mean that a house plant can only purify the air in a cubic meter or that you need 680 plants in a house. Plants continuously purify the air. Over several days, the air quality will improve. It’s not like your house is releasing tons of benzene every day. Sure, one house plant for a whole house will probably not do much, but a large enough plant for a room will probably result in some improvements in air quality.
I mean, if it cleans the majority of VOCs from roughly 1 cubic meter per day, then with decent air circulation you’d still get a noticeable difference over the long-term. Do the math on 5 plants in a 500- sq ft apartment for a year and it easily checks out. It’s not like I’m generating VOCs at the same rate as is implied by the amount used in the study, either.
I watched an experiment done by Kurtis Baute here on YouTube, and his claims were that the main benefit of plants is reducing the amount of carbon dioxide wherever you are, not necessarily reducing the amount of VOCs (VOCs exclude carbon dioxide). What that means for air “purity”, I’m not entirely sure, but if air quality includes less CO2, then this article hasn’t really answered the whole question.
I was wondering if I would hear “neglected houseplants can grow mold on the soil and dead leaves, which can actually attract fungus gnats, give off bad-smells and create more toxins than the plant is removing from the air, making indoor air actually more toxic than without the plant(s)”, but it wasn’t mentioned. It’s not a fact, it’s speculation, so I wasn’t sure and was hoping to get that answer.
You’re not taking into account a lot of factors, such as the fact that these tests were done over a very short period of time, and they were purposely pumping large amounts of pollutants into the air that would not be present in a normal living space. This seems like a very poorly presented article. You did the research, but interpreted the results incorrectly. The best we can conclude is that house plants DO improve air quality, but to what extent we do not know. Therefore you’re better off having a few house plants around than not. Oh, and they humidify the air as well which is nice if you life in an area with dry air.
you say “cubic meter” and write m^2… I’ll ignore that but technically if one plant (what size of plant are we talking about anyway?) cleans 1m3, get 5/10 of them, it’ll clean a lot more than none, even if you don’t have 680 (what a BS number pulled out of someone’s ar*se tho, no link to plant/m3 or anything taking context into account…) rushed up article?
Too bad there weren’t better studies in Real living spaces, to measure air quality on a normal level, but Somehow I don’t see plants doing a very good job of filtering out pet dander, normal dust, pollon, and the stink of the litterbox etc. I’ll leave most of that to the ionic breeze air filters and machines that actually do that. though…if my house had WINDOWS that were suitable, I would totally have houseplants.
680 indoor plants. To clear out a lot of the artificially introduced benzene and formaldehyde. In 24 hours. In a *house*. So four well-cared-for plants in a small apartment could stand to do quite a bit over the course of a year. I’m seriously tired of SciShow constantly siding with the null result studies. It’s an easy way to make you look like a responsible skeptic without actually putting much thought into it.
This article seems really inaccurate to me. Already the fact that you didnt mention co2 a single time in the whole article (youtu.be/1Nh_vxpycEA). Also: 680 plants of what size ? or type ? Were the chambers in the nasa study mostly bigger or mostly smaller than 1m^3 ? VOCs arent even a clearly defined class of compounds. There is a huge amount of organic compounds that are volatile. Ok this is a qq article, but some quick mentions could have cleared this up a lot…