 If you are thinking of enhancing the décor of your Flagstaff home with house plants, you may want to consider this information. Last week, I received a mailing from an out-of-town Realtor® on the topic “Invigorating Your Home with Plantscaping.” The piece touted the benefits of “a little greenery” to improve a home’s image inside. Without citation to the study, the flyer said, “Houseplants clean and clear the air in your home. According to a study by NASA, indoor plants along with carbon plant filters can help improve the air quality in your home.” I typed “carbon plant filters” into Google and came up with another reference to this, dating back eleven years. It looks like it was a study done by some Virginia state institutions, using NASA grant money, rather than a “study by NASA.” It looks like the source used by the flyer that I received is Plantscape Portal, a website promoting the landscape and greenhouse industry. In any event, the reason I bothered to look this up is that, last Thursday, I attended the kick-off meeting for the Northern Arizona Branch of the Arizona Chapter of U.S. Green Building Council. Our branch president gave a little talk and mentioned in passing that plants in office buildings are often found to be sources on indoor air pollutants! So, I decided to do a little research on that. Here’s what I found:
According to the United States EPA website, the practical use of plants to improve indoor air quality is nil – and may be less than nil. Instead, the practical way to improve indoor air quality is to remove toxins and improve ventilation. In fact, according to the U.S. EPA, “while decorative foliage plants may be aesthetically pleasing, it should be noted that over damp planter soil conditions may actually promote growth of unhealthy microorganisms.” In addition, plants that produce pollen (flowering plants) can be a source of allergens.
I’m not advocating the elimination of the decorative use of house plants in Flagstaff, or anywhere else, but if you think you’ve got an indoor air quality problem, you might check for mold growth in your plants soil. And, don’t expect that filling your house with plants will solve an indoor air quality problem through a carbon dioxide exchange miracle.
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