Use plants to clean the air in your house

Our homes are a haven, yet, inside them, we take every breath from the same 20,000 cubic feet of still, indoor air, full of toxins that we don’t even realise are there.

Yet the best way to transform the cleanliness of our own living air - more effectively than any detergent, air conditioner or insect repellant - are plants that have been proven to work as natural air fresheners and cleansers.

In just 24 hours, a few different house plants were found to remove some 87 per cent of indoor air pollutants, including highly toxic ones like benzene, trichocloroethylenes, and formaldehyde, all frequently found in homes, according to a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) study.

Such air pollutants were not a real threat until recent years. A century ago, when many Kenyans were living upcountry without electronic gadgets, carpets, adhesives and other assets required in a modern home, none of these toxins would have been in the air.

But today, as more people move into urban settings, many are faced with the challenge of indoor air pollution coming from household products and outdoor fumes caused by cars and industries, all of which are making them sick.

The solution, say scientists, is to grow plants in homes that can prevent illness and cancer risks.  

Plants produce their own food through photosynthesis, taking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releasing oxygen.

This process cleans air taking in other pollutants too, raising the oxygen content of static, heavily breathed, air.

Even in the choice of pot plants, householders can maximise the health gains.

The Areca Palm plant (Dypsis Lutescens) is one example, also known as butterfly palm golden cane and originally from Madagascar. It filters xylene and toluene from the air, according to NASA. Moreover, at 1.8 meters in height, the plant will transpire one litre of water every 24 hours, thus making it an effective humidifier, said Dr Wolverton of NASA.

Xylene and toluene can both produce allergic reactions and even cancer.

Homes are also exposed to benzene fumes coming from tobacco smoke, oils, plastics, rubber, dyes, detergents, synthetic fibres, and petrol fumes.

English Ivy, alongside other plants such as Dracaena Marginata, Janet Craig, Warneckei, Peace Lily, and the Gerbara Daisy, can eliminate benzene fumes. In addition, the appealing plant also helps purify formaldehyde fumes that can cause allergic reactions.

English Ivy has also been found to remove 60 per cent of airborne mould in just six hours in one study.

Another home air threat is formaldehyde, which comes from cigarette smoke, processed wooden products, adhesives and waxed paper.