Office Plants Winning the Battle for Clean Air
The Office Plant Does Its Bit For Cleaner Air
Those plants in your office or home are not only decorative but scientists are finding them to be surprisingly useful in absorbing potentially harmful gases and cleaning the air inside modern buildings.Tightly sealed offices with their beautiful furnishings are proving to be hostile environments.All sorts of dangers lurk inside -- formaldehyde and benzene fumes released from building materials. furniture and carpeting: ozone from copying machines; fumes from cleaning solvents; radon and secondhand smoke.
 NASA Research Focuses on Living Plants
We all may be breathing a lot easier thanks to promising National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) research on a most sophisticated pollution-absorbing device: the common office and house plant. The Interior Plantscape Division of the Associated Landscape Contractors of America has joined with NASA in a two-year program to study the effectiveness of popular plants in cleaning indoor air. NASA research on indoor plants has found that living plants are so efficient at absorbing contaminants in the air that some will be launched into space as part of the biological life support system aboard future orbiting space stations.
Dr. Bill Wolverton, a NASA research scientist believes that NASA’s finding about indoor plants have some down-to-earth applications for cleaning dirty indoor air.
He estimates that 15 to 20 Golden Pothos and Spider Plants can clean and refresh the air in the average 1,800-square-foot home.
Office Plants For Better Breathing
In the initial NASA studies over a dozen varieties of common interior plants were placed in sealed, Plexiglas chambers. Formaldehyde, a toxic chemical with the greatest exposure on humans, was introduced. Within 24 hours, the plants -- Philodendron, Spider Plant and Golden Pothos -- removed 80% of the formaldehyde molecules from the chamber.
NASA Research Identifies The Most Efficient Pollution Fighters
Recent findings reveal that flowering plants such as Gerbera Daisy and Chrysanthemum are extremely potent in purifying interior air. Other good performers are Dracaena massageanea, Spathiphyllum and Golden Pothos.
Plants Can Clean the Air in Your Office
NASA research has consistently shown that living, green and flowering plants can remove several toxic chemicals from the air in building interiors. You can use plants in your office to improve the quality of air to make it a more pleasant place to work where people feel better, perform better.
Foliage for Clean Air Council
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Plants Clean Pollutants From The Air... Make Sick Buildings Healthy
107 Dangers In The Air
In the early 1970's, NASA identified 107 volatile and potentially dangerous gases in its Sky Lab III space flights. Dr. B. C. Wolverton senior research scientist at NASA who spearheaded the project recently said, "Our research of nearly 20 years has shown that plant leaves, roots and soil bacteria can dramatically reduce levels of toxic vapors (such as were found in Sky Lab III)."
 From Sick Buildings To Healthy
Much as a space shuttle, tightly sealed buildings "retain" toxic gases. The result is polluted indoor air, a condition called "sick building" syndrome. Nearly 2 decades of NASA tests reveal that living green and flowering plants clean pollutants from the air, can makes sick buildings healthy.
Some Plants Clean Better Than Others
NASA tests prove that many frequently used indoor plants reduce certain toxic chemicals in the air dramatically...by 80 and even 90%. Some of the most efficient are the Peace Lily, Gerbera Daisy, Chinese Evergreen, Marginata, and Janet Craig.
How to clean Office Air
NASA tests have proven that indoor plants are effective air cleaners. According to Dr. B.C. Wolverton, "One plant per 100 feet should be effective in removing pollutants from the air, producing clean air. Two plants should do the same cleaning job in an average small office."
What kind of plants should you add in your building? How many do you need to do an air cleaning job? Call us for a recommendation and cost estimate.
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