which houseplants should you pick to clean indoor air? it depends on chemistry - indoor air cleaner

Sorry IKEA.
The humble interior plants have been recognized by me in the multi-tasking decoration.
Indoor plants not only provide a color that increases the atmosphere of the room, but also remove traces of harmful pollutants such as formaldehyde from the indoor air.
NASA shows the air purification capabilities of some plants.
1989 studies were cited.
Since then, many other scientists have been expanding the work.
Among them are Vadoud Niri at the State University of New York at Oswego.
Today, he describes the results of his team's latest study, which compares the effects of five different indoor plants removing eight different harmful chemicals from the air.
His speech was one of more than 9,000 people at the American Society of Chemistry Conference in Philadelphia this week.
Indoor air pollution is a legitimate health and environmental problem.
Paint, furniture, cleaning supplies and even building materials themselves contribute to what the chemical workers call the accumulation of volatile organic compounds ---
Compounds that easily evaporate into gas form at normal temperatures.
Not all gas compounds are harmful, but at a high enough concentration, some of them can lead to allergies and dizziness and may even lead to cancer.
After 1970, the indoor air quality problem became serious.
The oil crisis began when buildings were renovated or designed to reduce energy costs.
In the name of energy efficiency, the blueprint reduces the exchange of fresh air and increases the impact of harmful chemicals.
There is a name for this phenomenon. -
Sick building syndrome
Some industry workers, such as nail salons, face higher levels of chemical exposure due to the nature of their work.
According to NASA's 1989 report, some plants can supplement ventilation systems to reduce indoor air pollution. Follow-
Studies have shown that plants absorb and decompose harmful compounds through a variety of different pathways.
The goal of Niri is to compare the effects of plants removing several different volatile organic compounds at the same time.
Niri's team studied five common indoor plants in his area: jade plants (
Clarence, Argentina)Spider plants (
Hanging orchid)• Bromeliad (
Lingurata)
Cactus Caribbean tree (
Falcata)• Dracaena (
Fragrant Dragon Blood Tree)
They built sealed rooms in the lab and tracked the ability of indoor plants to remove eight different gas compoundsXylene• o-
Acetone, px (
Also called Asian armor Blue)
• Methane (
Also known as the CH 2)
To learn more about how plants absorb harmful chemicals, the team analyzed the removal rate and removal percentage of contaminants under different conditions.
They try to cover the soil or leave the soil uncovered to distinguish the removal of contaminants in the roots from the removal of parts of the above-ground plants.
They also tested plants with or without lights to simulate day and night.
Finally, when measuring performance, they take into account the leaf area of each plant.
According to previous studies, Niri's team determined that certain plants were better at removing specific compounds from the air than others.
For example, although all five plants contain acetone, a common chemical in nail polish remover, blood tree plants are most effective.
At today's press conference, Niri revealed that the emerald plant is best suited to remove toluene in his laboratory tests.
The Washington Post reported this morning that "Spider plants are glowing rapidly ---
After a minute of placement in the container, the concentration of VOCs immediately began to decrease.
"Pineapple is the most importantaround champ --
It is good at removing various compounds from the air.
However, the two target compounds-methane and triclomethane-provide more challenges for plant removal.
At the press conference, Niri speculated that this could be due to the chlorine atoms in the structure of these compounds. -
All other compounds in the study contain only carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
According to Bill Woolverton, who led NASA's initial research, the relatively new thing in this area is the process that the Nery team uses to sample organic compounds.
Team at Niri uses solid micro-extraction and gas chromatography-
Mass Spectrometry.
The first part of this technology, solid
Phase micro-extraction involves a fiber that can extract the target compound from the air in a concentration ratio and the second part is gas chromatography-
Mass spectrometry, identification and quantification of fibers extracted from the air.
The microextraction technology allows researchers to detect compounds that are much lower than previous methods, Woolverton said.
The results reported today give scientists a better idea of which plants are good for fighting certain contaminants, Niri said.
Ultimately, however, the suggestion should be based on real-world testing.
This is the next agenda for Niri, who plans to start growing plants at the nail salon.
In this study, his team considered the leaf area of each plant when measuring performance.
In order to figure out how many plants you need to get a certain drop in the level of pollutant compounds, his team puts different amounts of plants in different places --sized salons. "The ratio of [plant leaf]
The surface area of the room is very important for volume, "said Niri.
It is extremely impossible to protect manicurists from excessive harm by plants alone.
After the New York Times investigation, New York state now requires the ventilation system of the nail salon, which owners are still criticizing after more than a year of release. (
It is worth noting that the results of the investigation are complex, and while a small number of important news reports have led to an important review of certain details in the story, the thrust of the investigation has not been questioned. )
But Niri's personal experience has inspired his research choices.
Not long ago, he happened to go to the salon with his wife.
"I waited in there for a while, but I couldn't stay," he said . " He was very upset because of the smell of acetone.
At that time he was working on the air analysis project, so he investigated the condition of the nail salon and was saddened by the many hazards that the nail workers reported by the Occupational Safety and Health Authority and the Environmental Protection Agency were facing.
"I thought, 'Maybe I can do something, 'he recalls. '".
Regardless of Niri's future test results, it is clear that all parties welcome a way to reduce the safety cost of workers.