In a previous post, I touched based on the trends we are seeing with the increased interest in wellbeing at home and the problem of indoor air pollution. Whilst awareness has increased and consumers habits are changing, the answer doesn’t appear that simple and seems to require more of a multi-angle approach.

From the late seventies, specialists realised that closed off environments with reduced fresh air exchange were having repercussions on the health and they identified synthetic buildings materials, furnishings and humans themselves with the carbon dioxide exhaled to all contribute to the increased indoor air pollution and associated symptoms.

More specifically, volatile organic compounds (VOC) are a type of indoor pollutant that include both man-made and naturally occurring chemicals and can be found in pretty much everything from soft furnishings to upholstered furniture, carpets, man-made materials, paints and cleaning products. Their levels are in fact much higher inside our homes than outside (even in big cities like London) and even though harmful VOCs are not acutely toxic, they have long-term health effects. Some of the most common symptoms are headaches, nausea, drowsiness and fatigue, you can see why it’s difficult to link them directly to indoor air pollution, plus they are slow to develop.

NASA, after studies on sick building syndrome were demonstrating that indoor air pollution increases in mechanically ventilated buildings when there are less micro-organisms, decided to conduct their own study in 1989 about plants and their effects in reducing the indoor air pollution.

Their study concluded that to reduce indoor air pollution, there are two potential solutions:

• To reduce the pollution caused by the building materials and furnishings i.e. it’s preferable to use natural, non treated materials but to also regularly open the windows to air the room

• To increase the number of plants and the associated soil microorganisms helping to reduce VOCs’ levels.

Now, their study didn’t specify how many plants were needed for a set area but undeniably proved that introducing plants into our homes helps to absorb the nasty chemicals.

So which plants are the winners of the game, whilst still being easy to care for?

All in all, indoors plants are a wonderful addition to our homes, they can help to absorb some of the VOCs but it shouldn’t be our only course of action when having natural, non treated materials as much as possible as well as frequently airing the rooms, even in winter, are also and maybe even more effective at reducing the nasty chemicals levels.

Even knowing that indoor plants are not a magical solution, I still see them as a win-win as they bring us closer to nature and positively affect our mood and mental health!

Julie