Air-Purifying Plants: A Natural Solution to Indoor Air Pollution

In the cold winter, many households do not ventilate to keep indoors warm. However, indoor air can be easily polluted by various factors such as fine dust. In particular, smoke from cooking in the kitchen is also a problem. Many argue that cooking smoke is a risk factor for non-smokers to develop lung cancer. Lung cancer especially threatens women's health as 90% of female lung cancer patients in South Korea do not smoke, which shows that other risk factors such as the cooking environment are prominent.

It can be helpful to pay attention to indoor ventilation and grow air-purifying plants that are good for removing fine dust and various harmful substances. Then, what are some effective air-purifying plants for each place in the house?

If you grow air-purifying plants for the first time, it is good to buy plants that are easy to manage and grow. Pothos is an easy-to-manage plant, so you don't have to pay much attention. But it has excellent air purification capabilities; Pothos has excellent carbon monoxide removal capabilities as well as fine dust. If you want to take advantage of Pothos, it's best to keep it in the kitchen. This is because carbon monoxide occurrence at home is most common when cooking.

Viburnum has been proven to have the effect of removing ultrafine dust indoors in research. After injecting fine dust into a room with Viburnum, the amount of dust, especially the ultrafine dust, decreased by 70% four hours later. On the other hand, the number of rooms without Viburnum decreased by only 44%. In addition, Viburnum has excellent negative ions and humidity generation, which helps improve concentration and indoor humidity when placed in a study room. When you put it in a study room, it is effective to keep it close to the desk for a better effect.

Area palm is effective for air purification in the living room. It is a representative air-purifying plant with yellow stems and leaves. It is clearly proven that the plant is effective for air purification as NASA selected it as the plant with the best ability to remove formaldehyde. At low levels, breathing in formaldehyde can cause eye, nose, and throat irritation. At higher levels, formaldehyde exposure can cause skin rashes, shortness of breath, wheezing, and changes in lung function. it is good to put it in the living room as its air purifying range is over 1m2 in size and it helps increase negative ions and indoor humidity, so. The curves of the leaves are very aesthetic, so it is also good for ornamental purposes.

The peace lily is a representative indoor plant with flowers. It has excellent air purification ability, so it is good to raise it in new houses or roadside houses that are often polluted by gas emissions from vehicles. It can withstand more than 15 days in places without sunlight, making it easy to grow in underground spaces. Peace lily is good for removing various air pollutants such as trichloroethylene, benzene, and formaldehyde along with fine dust.