From levels “dangerous” of several volatile organic compounds, some plants were found to reduce contamination to undetectable levels within 24 hours.
It has been shown that many times the indoor air is contaminated. And it is almost certainly inside your house or your job where you spend more hours throughout the day.
Many materials emit volatile organic compounds that pollute the air we breathe in our home or in our work. These materials can be found in carpets, upholstery, plastics, synthetic fibers … This is in addition to chemical contamination of cleaners, insecticides, adhesives, paints and varnishes … In fact, if the nose closer to many things we can perceive the smell of some of these substances harmful to our health. By separating the nose, these odors are so scattered that may not be noticed but still there albeit in smaller concentrations.
A 1990 study by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency of the U.S. government) concluded that this “indoor pollution” is one of 11 major environmental problems. Moreover, this same study shows that the public has no concern enough for this type of pollution and, however, does have other more powerful types of contamination, such as “oil spills, which are not explicitly EPA’s list, but may be included in the section “habitat alteration. We must clarify that although oil spills cause serious damage to ecosystems, this form of pollution is an insignificant cause of the amount of hydrocarbons that pollute the seas and not get in the news when they occur. We refer, for example, to the work of “cleansing” that make hundreds of sea vessels illegally pouring large amounts of contaminants, without the rulers do not permit. It is interesting to note that of the 13 greatest concerns of citizenship only 3 are on the EPA list. This reveals that the environmental concerns of society at large is unaware of the greatest dangers, but perhaps only the most striking.
The solution to pollution indoors to avoid breathing polluted air, is easier than it looks (see Book of Nebel / Wright: Bill Wolverton, an environmental engineer at NASA studied the early seventies the problem of maintaining clean and healthy air in spacecraft. She began studying domestic plants and were much better than they had expected. From level “dangerous” of several volatile organic compounds, Wolverton found that some plants reduce contamination to undetectable levels in 24 hours. Two of the most effective were the cleome and philodendron (Philodendron, genus with over 250 species of ornamental aroid family), which are also among domestic plants that are easier to care for: tolerate almost any condition lighting, watering just 1 or 2 times per week, are resistant to pests and have no flowers to cause allergies. Also, are planted with ease: the philodendron cuttings and stolons numerous cleome of casting.
We can thus say that indoor plants clean the air we breathe. In particular, they are very easy to care for almost all of the family of the Araceae (Philodendron, Pothos, SYNGONIUM, regel, Monstera, Dieffenbachia, Caladium, Aglaonema …). For internet you can find much information on indoor plants.
Put plants in your life and give them as gifts, it seems a good motto to breathe better. Put plants in your home and workplace, it is where more time is spent. In addition, plants absorb CO2, so it is also a slight remedy for other types of pollution. You can also make your windows or patio for plants to exploit solar energy to grow or may even grow a garden. Although many people seem strange, it is possible to grow tomatoes and other vegetables in pot. If you do not want to devote much time to look after them locate species requiring little care, depending on the weather where they live. For example, in dry climates and Crassula cacti are very hardy and require almost no care.
Can compost as manure home, if you have that possibility. Moreover, the leaves do not throw it away, it is advisable to split them and throw them into the ground. The bird droppings are also very adequate because they do not emit odors. In general, chemical fertilizers pollute far (not only where they are used but also where they occur).
We can not close this article without saying that care plants and planting trees is an educational and cultural benefit to children and adults, as well as increasing our sensitivity to nature, and of those around us.
