
Potted plants do not improve indoor air quality - gk1
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-019-0175-9
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22c
I don't have full access to the article, but it would seem as though the
headline has been editorialized. CADR and air quality are not exactly the same
thing, the latter being somewhat ill-defined.

A better title is probably "potted plants do not make good air filters", but I
guess that doesn't sound as exciting.

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mooman219
From the abstract, this is a meta study. It recognizes that potted plants do
improve indoor air quality, but the amount is extremely insignificant. The
paper notes that it rather see studies focus on other areas that indoor plants
might be actually beneficial at like reducing VOCs and providing basic bio-
filtration instead of cleaning air in general.

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dwd
They do remove VOCs, but you basically need to be living in an indoor jungle
with 10-1000 plants per square metre.

Back in the 80's I remember visiting the home of the town mayor that had a
lounge room sized atrium overflowing with ferns in the centre of the house
(basically an indoor greenhouse) that could be accessed from each room.
Doesn't sound like that will do as much as you might hope for.

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BasicObject
So these findings contradict Kamal Meattle and the NASA Air Study?

[https://www.ted.com/talks/kamal_meattle_on_how_to_grow_your_...](https://www.ted.com/talks/kamal_meattle_on_how_to_grow_your_own_fresh_air/up-
next)

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gabetax
Have you read that NASA study? It involves air being run through an activated
carbon filter, and the plants using that carbon filter as its growing medium.
From the paper:

> This air filter design combines plants with an activated carbon filter as
> shown in Figure 1. The rationale for this design, which evolved from
> wastewater treatment studies, is based on moving large volumes of
> contaminated air through an activated carbon bed where smoke, organic
> chemicals, pathogenic microorganisms (if present), and possibly radon are
> absorbed by the carbon filter. Plant roots and their associated
> microorganisms then destroy the pathogenic viruses, bacteria, and the
> organic chemicals, eventually converting all of these air pollutants into
> new plant tissue.

[https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/199300...](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19930073077.pdf)

This isn't how most people setup their house plants.

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BasicObject
Thank you for this. I wasn't aware of the filter. I had heard of which plants
were most beneficial for the compound they remove and that Kamal recommended
growing the plants hydroponically.

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smoovb
More studies on the topic with microscopic images:
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4624768/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4624768/)

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pkaye
Somebody better tell this guy! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWvH9NF-
lyc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWvH9NF-lyc)

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m0llusk
Kamal Meattle's primary result was demonstrating increased blood oxygen levels
in occupants of buildings with large numbers of plants. This is consistent
with the results of the study finding pollutants not filtered from the air.
Additionally it is worth noting that achieving that result required not only
large numbers of plants, but extensive care for the plants. The requirement
that the plants be frequently cleaned of dust to keep their pores open may
also be involved with the results. In any case, all these studies agrees that
large numbers of plants are required to generate detectable results.

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fargle
Crap! I totally misread the title. Thought it said Pot Plants do not improve
indoor air quality. Never mind...

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johnday
Oh, I see what you mean! In the UK, "potted" plants are actually called pot
plants more often than not.

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cellular
Seems like the soil's mold and microbes would be detrimental too.

