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.

The Boston Fern is effective in removing Formaldehyde. Studies have shown it can additionally eliminate heavy metals, such as mercury and arsenic, from the soil it’s planted in.

Other plants like Aloe Vera, Azalea, Philodendron, Spider Plant, Golden Pothos, Bamboo palm, Corn plant, Chrysanthemum, Mother-in-Law’s tongue can also remove formaldehyde fumes.

Moreover, it takes just 24 hours for spider plants to work their wonders. They’re also effective at removing carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide from the air, report scientists.

Another common household toxin is trichloroethylene fumes from paints, lacquers, varnishes, adhesives.

Peace Lilly, which blooms with large white flowers, can eliminate trichloroethylene as can the Gerbera Daisy, Chrysanthemum, Warneckei and Dracaena marginata.

In addition, it can also reduce benzene concentrations and does well in low light areas in the home.

Plants also bring other benefits, such as the Rosemary herb, also known as the “dew of the sea” because of its ability to tolerate drought. Fresh branches used to be burnt to limit the spread of infection in French hospitals in the1940s.

Rosemary’s strong aroma also keeps insects away from plants and rooms.

Another big aide is be Mint, not commonly grown in homes here, but a powerful agent in keeping indoor rooms free of moths, flies, and even fleas.

All these plants also reduce mould spores and bacteria by half in the indoor atmosphere, according to scientific studies, and are available widely at Kenya’s road side nurseries and florists.

They can often even be uprooted from your grandma’s backyard upcountry, to join the fight against air pollution, and even non-communicable diseases like cancer.

All plants additionally raise the oxygen levels in rooms. Enough supply of oxygen not only relieves fatigue and headaches, but is impossible to live without.

Conversely, the carbon dioxide we breathe out, is an asphyxiant, which cuts off the oxygen supply for breathing, especially in confined spaces.

According to the National Library of Medicine, exposure to concentrations of 10 per cent or more of carbon dioxide can cause convulsions, unconsciousness, or even death.

All plants also neutralise free radicals. In the atmosphere, water, air and soil give off ions from atoms which have an unequal number of electrons and neutrons.

However, positive ions, also known as free radicals, break down human cells and cause acidic build-ups, raising stress and fatigue levels and even causing cancer.

These positive ions are much denser in urban indoor environments, where they are given off by high-voltage networks, heating and cooling systems, TVs, radios, transmitters, radar systems, computers, exhausts and cigarette fumes, radiation and harmful chemicals and toxins.

Poor building ventilation and closed windows also raise positive ion levels in a home. One study showed that the number of negative ions in a closed room with several people inside fell to 200cm3 from 1000cm3 to 1500cm3, the normal level.

By contrast, water and plants emit negative ions, neutralising the free radicals.

A University of Dublin study found that negative ions lift the serotonin in the brain that improves mood, emotion, sleep and appetite.

It takes just one potted plant per 100 square feet home or office space to eliminate toxins and reduce carbon dioxide levels indoors. Of maximum benefit, say the experts, is an array of three plants in each room.

African Laughter