Improvement of Indoor Air Quality by Houseplants in New-built Apartment Buildings

Abstract

A group of 82 households in a new-built apartment complex in Seoul, Korea participated in an investigation to examine the symptoms of sick building syndrome (SBS) using of houseplants for two observation periods. The present study confirmed the decrease of formaldehyde content in an airtight chamber containing a pot with fatsia plants. Houseplants affected the general air conditions, such as increasing relative humidity and decreasing carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. The toxic chemical substances responsible for SBS persisted at least one more years but were effectively decreased by ventilation. Houseplants facilitated the quantitative decrease of some of these chemical substances in indoor air. Indoor-dwellers felt the decrease in SBS symptoms with time regardless of houseplants in both observation periods. Houseplants made a slight difference to the symptom degree of SBS in the first observation period but a significant difference in the second observation period; however, houseplants made little difference to the content of toxic chemical substances in indoor air except formaldehyde, although houseplants gave desirable results in the decrease of SBS symptoms.

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

“…Toluene and ethylbenzene concentrations were unaffected by plant placement regardless of ventilation state. In addition, ventilation decreased the concentration of all four VOCs (Lim et al 2009). The experiment was carried out in 82 homes of varying sizes where 7-8 plants of different species were introduced to 42 of the homes.…”

“…Xylene concentrations also decreased in homes with plants compared to homes without plants from 12.3 to 2.4 μg/m 3 and from 10.7 to 1.0 μg/m 3 , respectively but only in the first year. In the second year, the xylene concentration was too low to show any tendencies (Lim et al 2009). Toluene and ethylbenzene concentrations were unaffected by plant placement regardless of ventilation state.…”

“…In the second year, the concentrations were reduced from 85.1 to 44.7 μg/m 3 and from 54.0 to 11.9 μg/m 3 , respectively due to plant placement (Lim et al 2009). Xylene concentrations also decreased in homes with plants compared to homes without plants from 12.3 to 2.4 μg/m 3 and from 10.7 to 1.0 μg/m 3 , respectively but only in the first year.…”

“…This can raise the question whether the obtained results are caused by introduction of plants or ventilation. In two of the field studies the effects of plants together with ventilation was analysed (Kim et al 2011a;Lim et al 2009). However, ventilation was characterized as windows being opened in the summertime and no ventilation as windows being closed in the wintertime.…”

Evaluation of Indoor Air Quality and Health Related Parameters in Office Buildings with or without Indoor Plants

“…Additionally, it has frequently been reported that indoor plants decease the symptom degree of SBS among indoor occupants (Godish and Guindon, 1989;Kim et al, 2010). Subsequent studies confirmed that plants could decompose those air-borne fine particles (Coward et al, 1996;Giese et al, 1994;Lim et al, 2009;Lohr and Pearson-Mims, 1996;Park and Seong, 2007).…”