Five super ornamentals plants acknowledged for cleaner indoor air
In the developed countries the indoor air quality at homes and offices is becoming a major health concern. Now- a –days people spend more than 90% of their time indoors or working in offices .Unexpectedly, indoor air has been reported to be as much as 12 times more polluted than outdoor air in some areas.
“Indoor air pollutants emanate from paints, varnishes, adhesives, furnishings, clothing, solvents, building materials, and even tap water. A long list of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs [including benzene, xylene, hexane, heptane, octane, decane, trichloroethylene (TCE), and methylene chloride], have been shown to cause illnesses in people who are exposed to the compounds in indoor spaces. Acute illnesses like asthma and nausea and chronic diseases including cancer, neurologic, reproductive, developmental, and respiratory disorders are all linked to exposure to VOCs. Harmful indoor pollutants represent a serious health problem that is responsible for more than 1.6 million deaths each year, according to a 2002 World Health Organization report.”
There cannot be anything like a modest dash of foliage in one’s living room or in offices. House plants or indoor plants provide a revitalizing sense. The invigorating scents and colors of flowers and plant life whisk the olfaction and visual senses.
The researchers have identified five “super ornamental plants’’ which every workplace should have to clean up indoor air — English ivy, waxy leaved plants and ferns.
In the research Lead researcher Stanley Kays of University of Georgia informed “, The ability of plants to remove VOCs is called “phytoremediation”. To better understand the phytoremediation capacity of ornamental plants, the research team tested 28 common indoor ornamentals for their ability to remove five volatile indoor pollutants. “The VOCs tested in this study can adversely affect indoor air quality and have a potential to seriously compromise the health of exposed individuals,” Kays explained. “Benzene and toluene are known to originate from petroleum-based indoor coatings, cleaning solutions, plastics, environmental tobacco smoke, and exterior exhaust fumes emanating into the building; octane from paint, adhesives, and building materials; TCE from tap water, cleaning agents, insecticides, and plastic products; and alpha-pinene from synthetic paints and odorants.”
During the research study, plants were grown in a shade house for eight weeks followed be acclimatization for twelve weeks under indoor conditions before being placed in gas-tight glass jars. The plants were exposed to benzene, TCE, toluene, octane, and alpha-pinene, and air samples were analyzed. The plants were then classified as superior, intermediate, and poor, according to their ability to remove VOCs.
The study concluded that simply introducing common ornamental plants into indoor spaces has the potential to significantly improve the quality of indoor air. In addition to the obvious health benefits for consumers, the increased use of indoor plants in both ‘‘green’’ and traditional buildings could have a tremendous positive impact on the ornamental plant industry by increasing customer demand and sales.” In gist, Indoor plants are a healthier and less costly option to deal with indoor air pollution since these plants are known to soak up carbon dioxide and emit oxygen. Indoor plants give a sense of nearness to nature and also do lot of good to the room’s ambiance and office atmosphere.
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