Could a House Plant Clean the Air?

[Guest guest]

<http://www.healthcentral.com/>

Could a House Plant Clean the Air?

As English ivy climbs, airborne contaminants fall, study finds.

By Randy Dotinga

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Nov. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Want a great, green way to clean the

air in your house?

A new study by a California teenager suggests that a not-so-usual suspect

-- the English ivy plant -- might be just the ticket.

Kim, the son of an allergy researcher, found that an English ivy

plant does a significant job of cleansing the air of mold particles and other

nasty particulates, including canine fecal matter.

" This may be a better alternative, and more cost-effective " than an

electronic air purifier, said study co-author Spyers-Duran, a nurse

practitioner and investigator at West Coast Clinical Trials in Long Beach,

Calif.

But an indoor-pollution specialist is skeptical of the

plant-as-air-cleaner approach. He suggested that concerned residents try an

old-fashioned method: ridding the house beforehand of contaminants that make the

air dirty.

Some house plants, including English ivy, have been touted for their

air-cleaning properties. But it hasn't been entirely clear how effectively they

work, said Spyers-Duran, who wrote the paper with Kim, the son of her company's

CEO, Dr. Kim.

The younger Kim put moldy bread and dog feces in individual containers and

measured how many particles spread into the air. Then he put an English ivy

plant into the containers to see what happened, and then repeated the

experiment.

The study findings were released this week at the annual meeting of the

American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in Anaheim, Calif.

According to the study, the plant reduced airborne particles of fecal

matter by an average of more than 94 percent over 12 hours. The level of mold in

the air went down by 78.5 percent.

How does a plant manage to clean the air? " Aerosolized proteins are

actually absorbed through the roots and soil of the plant, " Spyers-Duran

explained.

So should health-conscious Americans rush out and buy an English ivy

plant? There are a few caveats, experts said. For one thing, English ivy is

toxic and shouldn't be placed near small children or pets. Also, the study only

examined what the plant does in containers, not in entire rooms.

Then there's the matter of allowing dirt into your home. The soil that

feeds a plant also sends out its own potentially dangerous microbes and waste

products, noted Siegel, an assistant professor of civil engineering at

the University of Texas at Austin.

Siegel, who specializes in indoor air quality, recommends that residents

combat indoor pollution by getting rid of sources within the home. This includes

making people smoke outside and providing exhaust hoods to get rid of

cooking-related pollutants.