Have you been inside your house or office and could practically taste the impurities in the air? This could be dust, pollen or other nasty airborne contaminants. Nevertheless, breathing in these particles could make you sluggish or sick. The good news is that there are a number of things you can do to maintain the healthy air inside your home, including opening up windows to ventilate spaces, replacing dirty HVAC filters, dusting and vacuuming. You might also consider taking advantage of houseplants with the power to remove pollutants from the air.
Here’s some information about the dangers lurking inside, how to improve air quality in Village with plants and the five best houseplants for the job.
Indoor pollution
No matter how thoroughly and how often you clean the inside of your home, there’s bound to be some amount of contaminants. This includes dust, mold spores, pet dander, paint dust, pollen and bacteria, a lot of which gets filtered out of the air through the HVAC filtration system. However, other contaminants, called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), also live in your home’s air. Ammonia, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, benzene, xylene and toluene are VOCs found in indoor air. Exposure to VOCs can harm your health, exacerbate existing respiratory issues and create new health problems.
Top five houseplants for healthy air
There are many houseplants that offer health benefits. Let’s take a look at five of the best houseplants for improving indoor air quality:
- Peace lily: This plant can filter out all the aforementioned VOCs. Sure, lilies produce pollen in the summer, but they also filter out VOCs and mold spores all year long. Their leaves gather contaminants, forcing them toward the roots where they are processed for nutrients.
- English ivy: Because English ivy doesn’t flower, it has a lower pollen output—this houseplant is more hypoallergenic than most others. Even in pots, ivy grows and spreads quickly, so it needs regular trimming and care to keep it from taking over a room.
- Snake plant: Like English ivy, this hardy plant cleans indoor air extremely well, but doesn’t need as much room to grow. This plant is the perfect addition to homes with poor air filtration or that lack a UV filter. Needing little water and thriving best in dry conditions, it’s hard to kill a snake plant.
- Red-edged dracaena: The red-edged dracaena adds little pollen to indoor air, is difficult to kill and removes VOCs like xylene, benzene, toluene and formaldehyde. Skip this plant if you have pets because, if ingested, it can be toxic to some animals, especially cats.
- Chrysanthemum: This lovely flower is not only beautiful, but also removes ammonia, formaldehyde, xylene, toluene and benzene (which is a common chemical compound found in household detergents, paints, plastics and glues) from the air.
The combination of proper home ventilation, a good air filter, the right houseplants and scheduled carpet cleaning will keep indoor air as clean as possible. You wanted to know how to improve air quality in Village—now you know! Call King’s Cleaning Service, Inc. for floor cleaning services anytime.