Clean Air Plants

In 1984, NASA senior research scientist Dr. Bill Wolverton tested houseplants for their ability to maintain clean air for future habitable lunar bases. Testing in sealed chambers, Wolverton found that philodendrons and golden pothos were excellent formaldehyde controllers; gerbera daisy and chrysanthemums were impressive benzene purgers; pot mums and peace lilies were highly rated for TCE removal.

His initial findings suggested that one to three mature plants were enough to improve the air in a 100-cubic-foot area. He also found that it wasn’t just plants doing the clean-up work, but the microbes that were specific to the plants’ roots. Another 1989 NASA study concluded that tested houseplants removed up to 87 percent of toxic indoor air within 24 hours.

It is not so much the houseplant that is doing the work of cleaning the air, but the beneficial microbes found in the soil of the potted plants that are responsible for filtering the air, so long as the plant itself is healthy. And thankfully, it doesn’t take a jungle’s worth of plants to make the difference:

Professor Margaret Burchett and horticulturist Dr Donald Wood at The University of Technology (UTS) in Sydney, Australia have been studying the method and rate in which plants take up VOCs from the air around them and have found that you don’t need many pot plants to improve air quality…. Professor Burchett discovered through her research, you only needed one large plant in a 300 mm (12 inch) pot, or three smaller pots on a window sill in a large living room (15 square metres or 3200 square feet) to make a measurable difference to the VOC levels in that room. They found a reduction could be measured in as little as 48 hours.

If you are concerned about the indoor air quality in your home or office space, consider getting a few houseplants to make all the difference and clean up the air you breathe!

House plants that provide the greatest level of air purification

1. Aloe Vera
2. Areca Palm Tree
3. Bamboo Palm
4. Boston Fern
5. Chrysanthemum
6. Date Palm Tree
7. Dragon Tree
8. English Ivy
9. Ficus Alii
10. Heart leaf philodendron
11. Janet Craig – Dracaena
12. Lady Palm
13. Peace Lilly
14. Philodendrons
15. Rubber Plant
16. Snake Plant/Mother-in-Laws Tongue
17. Spider Plant  
18. Elephant ear philodendron (Philodendron domesticum)
19. Red-edged dracaena (Dracaena marginata)
20. Cornstalk dracaena (Dracaena fragans 'Massangeana')
21. Warneck dracaena (Dracaena deremensis 'Warneckii')
22. Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina)
23. Gerbera Daisy or Barberton daisy (Gerbera jamesonii)
24. Pot Mum or Florist's Chrysanthemum (Chrysantheium morifolium)

Top 10 Houseplants for Cleaner Air