Improve air quality with plants

Along with looking nice, houseplants can remove toxins from the air and even metabolize some chemicals. Metro Creative

As it gets colder outside, people tend to spend more time indoors.

Because windows are likely closed during winter, indoor air quality can suffer, making conditions inside a home less than desirable.

That’s when lots of people turn to synthetic fragrances to make their homes smell nice. However, such fragrances, found in air fresheners, detergents and the like may be emitting various chemicals, including volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, into the air, affecting indoor air quality.

When buying laundry products, look for those that are fragrance-free, also choosing home cleaning products that do not include any artificial fragrances.

According to an article published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, houseplants can work wonders when it comes to improving overall health, removing toxins from air, soil and water by metabolizing some toxic chemicals.
The following are a handful of plants that can help to improve indoor air quality.

Aloe vera: Aloe vera might be most often associated with hand creams and hand soaps, but the aloe vera plant, a succulent that even novice gardeners should have no problem growing, can clear indoor air of formaldehyde and benzene, two common byproducts of chemical-based cleaners many people use in their homes.

Spider plant: Spider plants are resilient, and that makes them great houseplants for busy men and women who tend to be forgetful when caring for their plants. In addition, spider plants are pet-friendly and can be used to combat benzene, carbon dioxide, formaldehyde and xylene.

English ivy: NASA researchers exploring the possibilities of long-term space habitation found that certain houseplants were more effective at cleaning air inside energy-efficient, non-ventilated buildings than others.

One such plant was English ivy, which can effectively combat the formaldehyde found in certain household cleaning products.

Bamboo palm: Bamboo palms also found their way onto NASA’s list. Bamboo palm plants thrive indoors, where they are especially effective at filtering out the chemicals benzene and trichloroethylene.

— Metro Creative


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