3 Plants for Your Home That Clean Out Bad Air

When you think of air pollution you probably picture vehicle exhaust and smoke stacks, but indoor air can be far more polluted than outside. In fact, indoor air pollution has been named one of the world’s greater public health risks.

Ozone is one particular pollutant often found indoors. The list of toxic effects caused by ozone are extensive and include inflammation, hemorrhage and reduced lung function. Unhealthy air can reduce productivity, increase health problems and even cause death in sensitive individuals.

While many techniques can help improve indoor air quality and remove high concentrations of ozone, one often overlooked technique is to choose the right potted plants for your home. Maintaining houseplants is a cost effective and valuable solution for reducing ozone concentrations in your home.

A study published in 2009 by the research team at Pennsylvania State University identified three common, affordable and beautiful houseplants in particular that effectively reduced ozone levels in enclosed spaces. These include:

• Snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata): Also known as mother-in-law’s tongue, this plant is excellent at removing ozone and formaldehyde. It thrives even in low light and humid conditions, making it a perfect plant to keep in the bathroom.
• Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum): This resilient plant has plenty of rich foliage to add beauty to your home. In addition to reducing ozone, it also filters out benzene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and xylene from the air. As an added bonus, this variety of spider plant is non-toxic to cats and dogs.
• Golden pothos (Epipremnum aureum): This fast-growing vine plant is hardy and easy to grow. It creates beautiful cascades from hanging baskets and stays green even when grown in the dark, making the formaldehyde-filled garage the perfect spot to grow golden pothos.

All three plants for your home noticeably decreased concentrations of ozone and other air pollutants in the Penn State study. Since these plants are inexpensive to purchase, easy to grow and beautiful additions to your home, it’s clearly an air cleaning method you should pursue.

To learn more about maintaining good indoor air quality, please contact Rinaldi’s Air Conditioning in Orlando today.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Orlando, Florida and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about indoor air quality and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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