Space-age Solution to Air Purification

It appears that our office and apartment spaces share something in common with a NASA spaceship — poor air quality. In an effort to save energy on heating and cooling, a lot of buildings were sealed and insulated. The problem with this: as more and more people occupy these buildings, they began complaining of various health problems. It was determined that the closed space, coupled with the presence of pollutants coming from furnitures, building materials and other people contributed to a phenomenon called the “sick building syndrome.”

Meanwhile, NASA was looking into the possibility of sealing people inside a space station or moon base without getting them sick from poor air quality. This led scientists to the idea of using plants to filter out disease-causing pollutants. Plant screening tests were done using chemicals found to exist in indoor environments, three of which are known to cause health problems: Benzene, Trichloroethylene and Formaldehyde.

Benzene is present in many basic items such as paints, plastics, and rubber. Chronic exposure even to relatively low levels has been know to cause diseases of the blood system, including anemia and bone marrow disease.

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a commercial product used mostly in the metal degreasing and dry-cleaning industries, but is also used in paints, lacquers, varnishes, and adhesives. The National Cancer Institute considers this chemical a potent liver carcinogen.

Formaldehyde is found in virtually all indoor environments – from foam insulation (UFFI) to consumer paper products. Other sources include cigarette smoke, natural gas and kerosene. The most serious disease attributed to formaldehyde exposure was asthma, until it was recently suspected by the Environmental Protection Agency of causing a rare type of throat cancer in long-term occupants of mobile homes.

The following table lists some hardy plants that have been found to remove some or all of the above trace chemicals from the air.

Toxic to dogs and cats

Toxic to dogs and cats

Toxic to dogs and cats

Toxic to dogs and cats

Non-toxic to dogs and cats