Take The Opportunity To Take Care Of Your Plants And Breathe Better At Home

Breathing is vital. It is known that we can live for several weeks without solid food, several days without drinking, but just a few minutes without renewing the air. Although breathing quality air is essential for health, indoor air can be two to five times more polluted than street air, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the North American health agency environmental.

That is why, now that we spend so many hours at home, it is convenient for us to provide ourselves with quality indoor air. Although natural ventilation is one of the most effective systems for renewing the air inside the home –about 15 minutes a day is enough–, if we use plants we will have an effective natural purification system.

Why is it important to put plants at home?

Studies indicate that the air inside buildings can contain harmful substances that, when inhaled, can cause irritation, headaches, discomfort or respiratory problems, a common problem derived from sick building syndrome.

The air is composed mainly of nitrogen and oxygen, and in small proportions it carries in suspension an infinity of particles and various chemical molecules, both of natural and artificial origin, in greater or lesser concentration depending on whether you live in a rural, urban area. or industrial.

Indoor plants act as effective purifiers, mainly of the so-called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), substances that contain carbon in their composition and that have the characteristic of volatilizing.

These compounds reach the interior of the home through furniture, upholstery, fabrics, carpets, paints, glues, varnishes, cleaning products, garden products or personal hygiene products. Some VOCs cause irritation of the eye and respiratory mucosa, act as allergens, produce headaches, dizziness or fatigue; others can cause damage to the central nervous system, be bioaccumulative, act as hormone disruptors or be carcinogenic.

Although natural ventilation is one of the most effective systems for renewing the air inside the home –about 15 minutes a day is enough–, if we use plants we will have an effective natural purification system.

How plants clean the air at home

Studies by NASA scientist Bill Wolverton, as early as the 1980s, showed the ability of indoor plants to clean polluted air of chemicals harmful to health, and verified that home plants removed most of the toxic air inside in 24 hours.

Each plant, in addition to absorbing the basic chemical compounds from the air – nitrogen, oxygen, carbon – has more or less affinity for some of the chemical compounds that usually remain suspended in the air, such as carbon monoxide, formaldehydes, trichlorethylenes, xylenes, benzene, or ammonia.

The philodendron, azaleas and difembaquias filtered formaldehyde from the air (present in building materials, furniture plywood, synthetic paints, glues, or cigarette smoke).

The daisies and chrysanthemums absorb excess benzene indoor air (present enhumo cigarette, cleaners, detergents …). The azaleas, the spatifilo or the rapis (Rhapis excelsa) are efficient to eliminate the ammonia.

The reduction in the concentration of volatile compounds is more intense when the plants have natural light, as indicated by the results of the study published in 2007 by the Department of Sustainable Architecture and Engineering at Hanyang University in Seoul.

The researchers concluded that when the plants were placed near a window, in a sunny area, the reduction in the concentration of VOCs was greater ; and the greater the number of plants, the greater the reduction in indoor air pollutants.

Thus, in practice it is advisable to have several different species of plants to take full advantage of the benefits of vegetables as air cleaners. Having one or two floors for every 10 square meters of interior space, near the windows, is a very healthy option.

Regulate humidity and mitigate noise

Another of the beneficial aspects of plants is their ability to regulate hygrometry, since they evaporate water according to the humidity levels already existing in the air.

According to a study conducted at the Norwegian University of Agriculture, indoor plants can help reduce fatigue, coughs, sore throats and other cold-related illnesses by 30%, and partially increase humidity levels in dry environments .

They can also help reduce dust by up to 20%. In dry environments, with values ​​of relative humidity below 45%, unpleasant electrostatic discharges tend to be generated, something very common in so-called intelligent buildings and in highly technical environments (with a predominance of electronic equipment, carpets, floors, furniture and materials synthetics).

Plants help reduce the electrostatic charge in the environment, by absorbing electrical charges and providing humidity to the environment. In the same way that abundant vegetation – trees, shrubs – is used as a barrier to mitigate the noise impact of traffic in urban areas, in interior spaces we can also use plants for the advantages they offer as noise attenuators.

An investigation carried out by the South Bank University of London concluded that species such as the spatyphyllus, the philodendron, the dracena and the ficus benjamina are those that act more effectively as mitigating the sound waves.

Plants to improve our mental health

The reduction of harmful substances in the environment not only has positive consequences for health, but also affects the psychological well-being of people. Studies carried out in workplaces and schools show how indoor plants increase creativity and ease in performing tasks and even promote relationships and good humor.

This is corroborated by a study by the Bunkyo Gakuin University in Japan: in schools where there are plants in the classrooms, students show a higher level of attention and concentration, with more favorable academic results. Researchers from the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Technology in Sydney (Australia) have published the results of a study showing how indoor plants improve work environments, increasing productivity by up to 12% and reducing absenteeism.

Some hospitals and health centers are also beginning to take note of these effects of plants. Dr. Howard Frumkin, a scientist at Emory University, Atlanta (USA), believes that the presence of plants indoors can prevent and treat diseases. According to this researcher, “although it is known that exposure and more direct contact with nature can be restorative, unfortunately that is hardly reflected in the area of ​​health. The solid evidence may not yet be available, but this it could be the basis for traditional ‘health gardens’ in hospitals and horticultural therapy that is now being used in children’s hospitals and nursing homes. “

In this same line of research, the University of Twente (Holland) published in January 2008 the results of a study that analyzes the influence of plants in reducing stress in the health center environment. The methodology used consisted in showing patients rooms in the health center with plants and rooms with some urban motif painted on the wall; then the perceived tension and the perceived attractiveness of the space (hospital room) were measured.

The conclusion of the study confirms the properties of plants in reducing stress and tension. Plants help heal the body and mind, as the headline of a study published in Japan concluded that “seeing trees lengthens life.”

A corner of nature at home

After the wonderful benefits that plants bring us, we cannot fail to highlight the most obvious, their beauty.

Surrounding yourself with pleasant environments, which give us harmony and serenity, is a vital point to maintain the balance of the body and mind, apart from being a gift for the eyes.

Even if you don’t have much space, it is easy to introduce vegetation into your home : a sunny corner of the living room and dining room, the kitchen windowsill or the problem of problems in the home.

Some more respectful and no less effective options are:

• For fungi such as powdery mildew or mildew, spray the plant with a 5% water dilution of whey or yogurt.
• For aphids, the dilution of potassium soap (10 grams in a liter of water) or garlic extract (3 crushed cloves per liter of water) give excellent results.

Certain species contain substances that can act as allergens for certain people, triggering reactions such as irritations of the respiratory and eye mucosa or eczema, as well as hypersensitivity reactions to plant fragrances.

One of the most common indoors, such as the ficus benjamina, can cause problems such as allergic rhinitis, asthma or hives to people allergic to its milky sap. The sap of diphimphakia is toxic but far from as claimed by the Internet.

The flowering plants can be problematic for people allergic to certain pollens