PLANTS TO COMBAT INDOOR POLLUTION

Everyday when we return home after a gruelling routine, we think that now we are safe from the grime and dust outside. But can we be so sure? Actually the air inside our home is much more polluted than we can imagine.

Indoor air pollution (IAP) has been ranked as the fourth most crucial environmental problem prevailing today by the US Environmental Protection Agency. It could result due to the presence of physical, chemical and biological contaminants in the air of a confined environment. Almost 75% of the carcinogens also come from indoors. A pollutant, released indoors, is thousand times more likely to reach and affect people’s lungs than a pollutant released outside.

The main sources of IAP are gases emitted from combustion, tobacco smoke, aerosol sprays, solvents, glues, cleaning agents, paints, insect repellents, air fresheners etc. Concentrations of air pollutants, especially the fine particulate matter, are well above the recommended World Health Organisation (WHO) levels. The signs of indoor air problems are unusual and noticeable odours, stale and stuffy air, excessive humidity, presence of moulds etc. The major effects on human health are respiratory tract infection, skin irritation, cardiovascular effects, malfunctioning of gastro-intestinal tract etc.

But there is a help at hand from several indoor ornamental plants that can suck away the harmful elements that contaminate the indoor air. Plants are the lungs of the earth. Indoor plants can perform essential and vital functions in our home or office with the same efficiency as they do in a forest in our biosphere. They cleanse the air and neutralise pollutants. Common indoor plants that can be used for this purpose are:

·       Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema modestum)

·       Bamboo Palm (Chamaedorea seifritzii)

·       Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum)

·       Chrysanthemum

·       Good luck plant (Cordyline terminalis)

·       Mass cane/corn plant (Dracaena massangeana)

·       Golden Pothos (Epipremnum aureum)

·       Boston fern (Nepherolepis spp.)

·       Heart leaf philodendron (Philodendron oxycardium)

·       Peace lily (Spathiphyllum spp.)

Potted plants slowly degrade the toxic substances in the indoor air. So, we should find out more about various useful plant species to combat this serious problem of indoor pollution.

-        Barkha , 3^rd year