Since moving out, my roommate and I have gotten into buying houseplants. Most of them are in our living room and we have a few in each of our rooms. Having houseplants has been getting more and more popular, not just because they look nice, but have also been touted to have health benefits like improving air quality.
In one study by Kim et al., they assessed if house-plant placement could purify the air or have any health benefits on asthmatics. They placed different types of plants in different parts of a house and measured air quality in different seasons. They had one group where the plants were kept in the house for a prolonged period and one group that had the house plants removed after a certain time. Researchers looked at volatile organic compounds (VOC), which are in higher concentrations indoors than outdoors. Researchers found decreased levels of VOCs in the continuous plant household and changes in quality of life for asthmatics. However, they concluded that these changes could be due to ventilation, the type of plants placed, and the symptom degree of their participants.
Another article discussed a girl who had respiratory airways disease and her doctor recommended that she put plants in her room to help. She noticed relief in her symptoms and an increase in her air quality meter (Barnett, E., 2019).
These two articles have contradicting results, but it seems that there are many mixed views on the benefits of houseplants. What do you think, can houseplants improve air quality or are they just for looks?
References
Barnett, E (2019). How houseplants can benefit individuals with respiratory issues. Eastern Washington University.
Kim, H. H., Yang, J. Y., Lee, J. Y., Park, J. W., Kim, K. J., Lim, B. S., Lee, G. W., Lee, S. E., Shin, D. C., & Lim, Y. W. (2014). House-plant placement for indoor air purification and health benefits on asthmatics. Environmental health and toxicology, 29, e2014014. https://doi.org/10.5620/eht.e2014014
Hi Amy,
ReplyDeleteI plead guilty to houseplant addiction myself. Currently, my running total is 14 plants in my apartment. As a person who suffers from Asthma, I feel that my houseplant addiction has improved my breathing quality. However, I also know other factors could be at play as I did purchase an air purifier recommended by my doctor. Whether or not, the houseplants are the main beneficial factor, I would argue that they reduce my stress by just glancing at them.
In one research, they found that subjects that interacted with indoor plants showed reduced physiological and psychological stress (Lee et al. 2015). The interaction with the plants also promoted decreased blood pressure and promoted soothed natural feelings.
While we are spending more time indoors and at home, having house plants around has indeed provided me with comfort and happiness.
Lee, M. S., Lee, J., Park, B. J., & Miyazaki, Y. (2015). Interaction with indoor plants may reduce psychological and physiological stress by suppressing autonomic nervous system activity in young adults: a randomized crossover study. Journal of physiological anthropology, 34(1), 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40101-015-0060-8
Hey Amy,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post. I’m an advocate for houseplants for sure! I always have thought that houseplants improve air quality and were beneficial for the house overall. But I read this article from science alert which discusses how houseplants don’t really purify the air in your home unless you have a large number of houseplants for every square meter of living space you have which sounds a little ridiculous. It seems like a common expected view that houseplants really improve the air quality in the house, but the second situation presented may seem to be a placebo, in which the girl believed that it improved her symptoms. According to an Environmental Engineer from Drexel University, “ Plants are great, but they don’t actually clean indoor air quality enough to have an effect on the quality in your home.” It's actually interesting, as the myth came from 1989, in which NASA conducted research to see if plants could filter cancer-causing chemicals in their spaceship. The research only looked at small cubic meters and they revealed that the plants get rid of 70% of the toxins. But there were many fallacies that occurred from the research that truly didn’t make it reliable. It's still a toss-up in the air for sure!
Cassella, C. (2019, November 8). Massive Review Confirms House Plants Aren't Actually 'Purifying' The Air in Your Home. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://www.sciencealert.com/sorry-your-potted-plants-are-not-making-the-air-any-cleaner