Indoor plants and their air purifying characteristics

Who doesn’t love a beautiful indoor plant? It adds ambiance to your interior, but improves the air quality as well. Did you know most plants have the ability to clean the air? MyPalmShop is glad to explain you more about the air purifying qualities of plants.

Polluted air at home

We spend a large amount of our lives indoors. In some cases, this means frequent exposure to polluted air. One of these polluting materials are volatile organic compounds, found in paint, furniture and cleaning materials. Other polluting materials include nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde. Through burning of (fossil) fuels, these are released into the air. They can reduce the air quality indoors, increasing the chance to get symptoms such as headaches, fatigue and allergies.

Indoor plants undo toxic substances

Air purifying indoor plants contribute to removing these toxic substances from the air. They absorb them via their leaves and roots and break them down to unharmful substances. This is a process called Phytoremediation. Besides that, indoor plants increase the humidity indoors as well, which is beneficial to your lungs and decreases the chance to get a cold or flu.

These are some of the best indoor plants for air purification

There are many different indoor plants that have air purifying qualities. We have put some of them below for your convenience.

Sansevieria (Mother-in-law’s tongue)

Sansevieria is one of the most popular air purifying plants. It is easy to maintain and requires very little water. Furthermore, it is easily cultivated and has few pests and diseases. It can remove formaldehyde, benzene Trichloroethylene from the air.

Aspidistra

Aspidistra is one of the best plants to remove VOC’s (volatile organic compounds). It has long, thin leaves that absorb toxic substances easily. It is known to be able to sustain a lot of abuse, low amounts of light, little watering and is generally known to be problem free. Its only weakness is too much water.

Ficus

Ficus is great for removing the toxic substance formaldehyde. It is known under various names and is particularly popular due to its leaves (and the variation thereof). The ficus does require more care than Sansevieria and Aspidistra, but is still a very popular as an air purifying indoor plant.

Kentia Palm

Kentia Palm is one of the best plants for increasing the air humidity indoors. The plant has large, green leaves that vaporize water and thus increase the air humidity. Besides that, the Kentia palm can also remove volatile organic compounds, and thus increase the air quality inside.

Agave

Agaves aren’t just beautiful plants, but they also purify toxic substances from the air. They are particularly good at absorbing formaldehyde, a common substance found in most cleaning products.

Ferns

Ferns are great plants for filtering air pollution like benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene. Ferns come in all shapes and species. They do require more work, particularly a higher air humidity and more watering. This in contrast to many other indoor plants. Nonetheless, we think they are amazing plants to help keep the indoor air quality significantly higher.

Conclusion

Indoor plants are not just beautiful, but also have plenty of advantages. By having air purifying indoors, you can increase the air quality and improve your health. Aside from these advantages, most indoor plants have more specific air purifying abilities as well. Choose the plant that fits your home best and benefit from a healthier indoor climate.