Air purifiers are plants which take toxins from the air; although this is a bit of a misnomer because all plants do this with carbon dioxide when photosynthesising. Plants have the ability to remove other toxic gases from the air, such as Benzene, Formaldehyde, and Trichloroethylene. These gases are usually found in inks, paints, plastics, and sprays.
A lot of research has gone into this, most prominently by NASA who conducted research into which plants can detect and purify certain toxins in the earth’s atmosphere, as well as for applications in the space station. I won’t try to paraphrase NASA, so here is a link to their article about this: NASA.
We have tried to recreate a similar list of air purifying plants as the NASA one but this has more plants and actually a place to buy them!
Here are some of our favourite ones:
- Maranta Leoconeura Tricolor
- Aglaonema
- Musa Dwarf Cavendish
- Pilea Peperomioides
- Sansevieria
- Calathea Ornata
So if you want to create a healthier environment at home, in your room, or if you have some secret plans to terraform Mars (hi Elon), here is the place to get them!
Plant love,
Planteka Community Blog 