Indoor Plants help clean the air and toxins

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, our homes can have three to five times more pollutants than the outdoors. The NASA Clean Air Study was designed to find effective and simple ways to detox the air in the space station and it reveals that common house plants have air purifying superpowers.

In 1989, NASA compiled a list of indoor plants that clean the air and remove toxins. Its conclusions are of great interest when choosing which plants to decorate homes, as they can remove the five most common pollutants: benzene, xylene, ammonia, trichloroethylene and formaldehyde.

Some plants can eliminate up to 87% of poisonous elements in the air. Most of these toxins come from common items around our homes like paint, varnishes, cleaning solutions, insulations, wood treatments, carpeting, and other products. We choose four examples and non toxic to pets.

1. Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum)

The spider plant is one of the most common, popular and easiest to grow of all houseplants that clean the air. No direct sunlight and when they start to wilt slightly, just water.

This air purifying houseplant will help remove benzene, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and xylene from your home. They make wonderful hanging plants for that drab corner of the room, easy to care and non toxic to dogs and cats.

2. Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata)

Here’s another humidity loving plant. Before trying to get and grow a Boston Fern is best to make sure you can meet its growing requirements.

The first thing to take into consideration is the placement. This fern 

needs a cool place with indirect light, high humidity levels and non toxic to dogs and cats. The other important thing is to make sure the soil is moist at all times. If that’s not a problem for you, you’ll surely become the lucky owner of a happy fern!

3. Bamboo Palm

Also known as the parlor palm, the bamboo palm (Chamaedorea seifrizii) is a hardy, low-maintenance air purifying plant with a high shade tolerance.

Its waxy green leaves might be tempting for a plant-partaking pet, and that’s perfectly fine. Bamboo palm plants are safe for dogs and cats. It will happily, and safely, share the sunny window seat with your cat or provide the perfect canopy for your dog’s bed.

4. Gerbera Daisies

Gerbera daisies are excellent plants for both adding some color to your living space and cleaning the air. Luckily for those with pets, gerbera daisies pose no danger to cats, dogs and horses and are listed as non-toxic by the ASPCA. They require some care (and a lot of sunlight), but the benefits are worth the effort. Keep them by a window and they will reward you by filtering trichloroethylene and benzene out of the room's air.