When most people buy houseplants, one of the main questions for vendors is, “What kinds of plants are best for removing toxins from the air?”However, while there are hundreds of articles on the internet and a handful of studies indicating that houseplants are excellent air purifiers, the evidence is far from conclusive. The idea that plants could clean and purify the air inside a room began with a study conducted by NASA in 1989. Later research also confirmed that organisms in the soil of potted plants had an air-purifying effect.
大多數人在買室內盆栽植物時，他們對賣家提出的主要問題之一就是：「哪種植物最能除去空氣中的毒素？」然而，雖然有數百篇網路文章跟幾項研究顯示室內盆栽植物是絕佳的空氣清淨器，但現有證據遠不足以證明這一點。植物能夠清潔淨化室內空氣的概念源自 NASA 在 1989 年進行的研究。之後的研究也證實了盆栽土壤裡的有機物質有淨化空氣的效果。
toxin [ ˈtɑksɪn ] n. 毒素 purifier [ ˈpjʊrəˌfaɪɚ ] n. 淨化器∕物 organism [ ˈɔrgənˌɪzəm ] n. 有機物質∕體 a potted plant盆栽植物
However, there was one major problem with these early studies—most were conducted by placing plants in very small, airtight boxes, rather than in rooms similar to what one might find in a home or office. A more recent study conducted by Michael Waring at Drexel University found that one would need 500 plants in a 50-square-meter room in order to improve air quality to a significant degree.
A few potted plants are not even close. If you want a truly effective way to keep the air in your house clean, then you’ll need to invest in more expensive technology. In conclusion, plants are certainly fun to take care of and are great for enhancing the look and feel of a room. However, one might be better off simply opening a window or running an air purifier to clean the air in a room.
