The Environmental Protection Agency contends that  using energy efficient ventilation and vapor barriers are more effective in controlling indoor pollution than houseplants. Some of our favorite houseplants, however, do help mitigate pollutants, some quite efficiently. Just don’t count on them to do the job by themselves.

NASA Experiments

The basis for the claim that houseplants can help make the indoors healthier is a series of experiments completed in the 1980s by NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America. The first experiments tested bamboo palm, Chinese evergreen, English ivy, Mother-in-Law’s tongue sansevaria, ficus benjamina, peace lily, Gerbera daisy and pot chrysanthemum. Four types of dracaena; Janet Craig, marginata, massengea and Warnecki rounded out the group. Researchers tested plants with volatile chemicals including benzene, trichloroethylene and formaldehyde, all common indoor pollutants. The preliminary report of the group concluded that pollutants were mitigated not only by the plants’ respiratory process but also by the nutrient-gathering processes of their roots.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/126349-house-plants-indoor-air-pollution/#ixzz1C16YRCSZ