Formaldehyde removal by potted plant–soil systems

Xu, Zhisheng; Wang, L i; Hou, Haiping

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2011.05.020

Cited by 62 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Increasing light intensity is found to have a positive effect on VOC removal efficiencies and rates (Baosheng et al 2009;Kondo et al 1995;Oyabu et al 2003a,c;Porter 1994;Sawada and Oyabu 2008;Xu et al 2011). As example, Nerium indicum exhibited a clear increase in formaldehyde removal rate with increasing light intensity (Fig.…”

Section: Lightmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…In this study, the soil had been covered with a Teflon bag for the examination of the aerial plant parts, and the root zone was investigated by surgically removing the aboveground parts. Xu et al (2011) investigated the soil by removing the aboveground parts as well as the roots from the soil. For formaldehyde removal by Chlorophytum comosum, Aloe vera and Epipremnum aureum the soil contributed with 45-55 %.…”

Section: Removal Of Vocs By Growing Media and Rootsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Can ornamental potted plants remove volatile organic compounds from indoor air? — a review

Cruz

Christensen

Thomsen³

et al. 2014

Environ Sci Pollut Res

142

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are found in indoor air, and many of these can affect human health (e.g. formaldehyde and benzene are carcinogenic). Plants affect the levels of VOCs in indoor environments, thus they represent a potential green solution for improving indoor air quality that at the same time can improve human health. This article reviews scientific studies of plants' ability to remove VOCs from indoor air. The focus of the review is on pathways of VOC removal by the plants and factors affecting the efficiency and rate of VOC removal by plants. Laboratory based studies indicate that plant induced removal of VOCs is a combination of direct (e.g. absorption) and indirect (e.g. biotransformation by microorganisms) mechanisms. They also demonstrate that plants' rate of reducing the level of VOCs is influenced by a number of factors such as plant species, light intensity and VOC concentration. For instance, an increase in light intensity has in some studies been shown to lead to an increase in removal of a pollutant. Studies conducted in real-life settings such as offices and homes are few and show mixed results.

show abstract

Section: Lightmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Removal Of Vocs By Growing Media and Rootsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can ornamental potted plants remove volatile organic compounds from indoor air? — a review

Cruz

Christensen

Thomsen³

et al. 2014

Environ Sci Pollut Res

142

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Wood et al 2002;Orwell et al 2004). Reported formaldehyde removal rates by plant tissues alone were found to be so low as to be insignificant for IAQ improvement purposes (Schmitz et al 2000), whilst substantial formaldehyde removal has been detected for individual bacterial species associated with an active biofilter (Wang and Zhang 2011), and also for indoor plants when the substrate was also present (Xu et al 2011). The removal of several other contaminants, however, such as CO 2 (Oh et al 2011, Torpy et al 2014, SO x , NO x (Elkiey and Ormrod 1981;Esguerra et al 1983) and ozone (Elkiey and Ormrod 1981) appear to be mostly or wholly plant mediated, and are taken up directly through the stomates (gas exchange pores) of the green shoots, which in most species are open only during daylight hours, and not in the dark.…”

Section: Phytoremediation and Horticultural Biotechnologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing Indoor Air Pollutants Through Biotechnology

Torpy

Irga

Burchett

2014

Biotechnologies and Biomimetics for Civil Engineering

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Indoor environmental quality is a growing concern, as populations become more urbanised and people spend a greater proportion of their lives indoors. Volatile organic compounds outgassing from synthetic materials and carbon dioxide from human respiration have been major indoor air quality concerns. The growing use of energy-efficient recirculating ventilation solutions has led to greater accumulation of these pollutants indoors. A range of physiochemical methods have been developed to remove contaminants from indoor air, but all methods have high maintenance costs and none reduce CO 2 , which some biological systems can achieve effectively with the additional benefit of the selfsustaining capacity of biological material. Bacteria are the major organisms involved in bioremediation of VOCs, although green plants may help sustain the bacterial community and add the capacity for CO 2 reduction to a system. The main problems faced by indoor air bioremediation systems is the extremely low concentrations of VOCs present indoors and the possibility of microbial release. Simple, passive biofiltration with potted green plants may be the simplest and most effective system for indoor air cleaning, but further research into substrate types, ventilation, and the microbiology of biodegradation processes is required to reveal their ultimate potential. Purely microbial systems have potential for the bioamelioration of high concentrations of toxic gases, but not without significant maintenance costs. Despite many years of study and substantial market demand, a proven formula for indoor air bioremediation for all applications is yet to be developed.

show abstract

“…The main human exposure pathways of HCHO are inhalation of gaseous HCHO from the air or transdermal absorption of aqueous HCHO (Gelbke et al, 2014). Therefore, the required time is more available as the indicator to evaluate the performance of a biological method for indoor HCHO removal (Darlington et al, 1998;Xu et al, 2011;Dela Cruz et al, 2014).…”

Section: Performance Evaluation Of Plants On Volatile Hcho Removalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The multiple boxesmodeling was used in a laboratory-type test to describe the performance of planting on the cleaning of indoor air. Although the earlier laboratory studies have demonstrated the ability of bioremediation technologies to remove VOCs (Kim et al, 2008;Xu et al, 2010;Xu et al, 2011;Dela Cruz et al, 2014;Gawronska and Bakera, 2015;Pandey et al, 2016;Hong et al, 2017), no experimental field-study has been made to investigate the potted-plant can bring about significant reductions of VOC pollution in the real environments. Our study might provide an accurate and relatively accessible platform for the public, interior designers and engineers to determine if the health risks of VOCs in their building space.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of A Potted Plant (Hedera helix) with Photo-Regulation to Remove Volatile Formaldehyde for Improving Indoor Air Quality

Chen

Lin

Chuah

2017

Aerosol Air Qual. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Formaldehyde is the most common volatile organic compound (VOC) emitted from household materials and is associated with many health risks, including sick building syndrome. A potted Hedera helix was used as an air purifier to remove the gaseous formaldehyde. Development of a test platform is necessary to evaluate the indoor performance of air cleaning protocols. The box modulation with a novel volatile pollutant-emitting source was applied in an air quality monitoring experiment to mimic a non-ventilated workplace. The environmental conditions and the pollutant concentrations in the air were measured in real time, and the monitoring data was uploaded to cloud storage media by a wireless technique. Compared with natural dissipation, our results demonstrate a 70% decrease in the required time to achieve 1.0 ppm of gaseous formaldehyde using the biological purifier. In addition, the effect of photo-regulation was not significant in the use of potted plants to remove gaseous formaldehyde. Our study provides an accurate and available platform for the public to determine the health risks of VOCs in their buildings.

show abstract

Formaldehyde removal by potted plant–soil systems

Cited by 62 publications

References 20 publications

Can ornamental potted plants remove volatile organic compounds from indoor air? — a review

Can ornamental potted plants remove volatile organic compounds from indoor air? — a review

Reducing Indoor Air Pollutants Through Biotechnology

Investigation of A Potted Plant (Hedera helix) with Photo-Regulation to Remove Volatile Formaldehyde for Improving Indoor Air Quality

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About