Since many of us have been quarantined at home, I want us to look at some houseplants that purify the air. These NASA recommended indoor plants clean the air in your home and remove toxins. These are the best air purifying indoor plants and only require low light to thrive.
For a video demonstration, check out our YouTube video, where I take you through my home and show you several houseplants that purify the air! While you’re there, please like, subscribe, share, and leave a comment on what you thought. For more health tips, see our blog articles. Thanks! Enjoy!
Benefits of Houseplants
I have loved plants since my teen years. In those early years it was mostly because of their beauty and all the unique varieties. Of course, I knew from science class that plants took in CO2 and gave off oxygen, but it wasn’t until I was much older that I realized plants have many healing attributes. I’m going to list some of the common ones and a few not so common ones and give you some of their health benefits.
10 Air Purifying Indoor Plants
- Peace Lily and Dracena (Snake Plant): Both of these cleanse air of formaldehyde, xylene, benzene, toluene, and trichlorethylene. The peace lily also cleans air of carbon monoxide.
- Spider plant: Cleans out carbon monoxide and xylene.
- Palm Plant: Reduces ammonia from the air.
- Philodendron: Clears formaldehyde.
- Aloe Plant: Clears formaldehyde and benzene. Also the gel can be used for healing burns and skin ailments.
- English Ivy: Great for bathrooms because they are known for reducing airborne fecal matter.
- Crown of Thorns: This is an interesting plant, mainly ornamental, but has a latex like sap that can cause a poison ivy like rash. The sap has also been used for dart poisoning to slow down prey in both hunting and spear fishing.
- Wandering Jew: Cleans air of allergens, dust, and pollutants. It is also said that if taken internally, it can help with blood pressure, reduce stress and stomach ailments, to name a few. However, I would strongly suggest you do your research on this yourself. I personally cannot vouch for this.
- Immortality Plant: This plant is sometimes called a “cure all” and “anti-aging” plant when taken internally. So, it is high in antioxidants and said to help with energy, immunity, digestion, heart health, mood, sleep, skin, type 2 diabetes, and even possible cancer protection. The tea recipe I found was 1 tsp of leaves to 8 oz water. Steep for 3-10 minutes. Enjoy both the tea and chew on the leaves. They are said to be slightly sweet.
- Succulents: Another group of plants is succulents, a group cacti fall into. I am going to include orchids in this group, too, because they have a lot of the same characteristics. These characteristics include clearing air of xylene and also known to be very effective in eliminating bacteria. But one of the interesting things is they take in carbon dioxide during the day and emit oxygen at night. This makes it an ideal plant for the bedroom for a more restful sleep, due to boosted oxygen levels.
Conclusion
This list is in no way exhaustive. It is merely to get you interested in not only the beauty, but the health benefits of plants. One last fun fact: there was NASA research that revealed houseplants can remove up to 84% of air toxins in a 24 hour period! How cool is that?!
Joann Loy
Kenny Loy