Potted-plant/growth media interactions and capacities for removal of volatiles from indoor air

Wood, Ronald A.; Orwell, R.L.; Tarran, J.; Torpy, Fraser R.; Burchett, Margaret

doi:10.1080/14620316.2002.11511467

Cited by 132 publications

(136 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Moreover, previous studies found three major channels of air-pollutant decomposition by houseplants: most air-pollutant decomposition was a result of photosynthesis by houseplants after absorbing air pollutants through the stomata (Kondo and Saji, 1992), and the remainder was adsorption by media (Orwell et al, 2006;Wood et al, 2002) or with the help of microbes in the rhizosphere (Godish and Guindon, 1989). In a 1-m 3 airtight chamber, a pot without plants caused about a 100-μg decrease in formaldehyde for 5 h but a pot of fatsia plants resulted in an approximately 700-μg decrease during the same period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Lim

Kim

Yang

et al. 2009

J. Japan. Soc. Hort. Sci.

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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.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Lim

Kim

Yang

et al. 2009

J. Japan. Soc. Hort. Sci.

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“…Wolverton (1997) subsequently conducted screening chamber studies of the VOC removal ability of 50 indoor plant species, and found they all showed some capacity to reduce VOC concentrations. This early work was developed by Wood et al (2002) and Orwell et al (2004Orwell et al ( , 2006, who established that it was the microflora associated with the growth substrate, rather than the potted plant itself that was the active component of the system for removing VOCs. These studies demonstrated VOC (benzene) removal by potted plants at very high rates for initial VOC concentrations of up to 163,000 lg.m -3 , and also at more indoor air realistic levels of *800 lg.m -3 for n-hexane, toluene and xylene.…”

Section: The History Of Bioremediation Of Indoor Airmentioning

confidence: 98%

Reducing Indoor Air Pollutants Through Biotechnology

Torpy

Irga

Burchett

2014

Biotechnologies and Biomimetics for Civil Engineering

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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.

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“…Uhde and Salthammer (2007) also studied the influence of construction materials and furniture on IAQ. Using indoor plants is usually cheaper than technological approaches to improve IAQ (Wolverton, 1986;Wood et al, 2002). Improvement of IAQ by using indoor plants has thus received much attention recently.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Removal of Indoor Carbon Dioxide and Formaldehyde Using Green Walls by Bird Nest Fern

Chia-Hui

2015

The Hortic J

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This paper presents an evaluation of the effectiveness of removing air pollutants by installing green vertical walls filled with potted plants. Most people in urban areas spend 80-90% of their lives indoors, indicating the significance of indoor air quality. Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and formaldehyde (HCHO) are the most common sources of indoor pollution; their levels can be reduced by using potted plants, which provide the additional benefit of beautification. In accordance with our previous study, for this purpose, we used bird nest fern (Asplenium nidus Linn.), which has a high rate of transpiration and is easy to grow indoors. Upon using 3 treatments involving the release of CO 2 , HCHO, or CO 2 + HCHO, the experimental results showed that bird nest fern can reduce the concentration of CO 2 from 2000 ppm to a safe 800 ppm at an average of 1.984 ppm·h −1 (per pot). By contrast, the concentration of HCHO was reduced from 2 ppm to the safe level of 0.1 ppm, at an average of 0.003 ppm·h −1 (per pot). Regarding temperature and humidity, the results showed a decrease of 2°C indoors and an increase of 10% relative humidity. These results show that bird nest fern has high rates of CO 2 and HCHO removal, reduces temperature, and raises relative humidity.

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Potted-plant/growth media interactions and capacities for removal of volatiles from indoor air

Cited by 132 publications

References 34 publications

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

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

Reducing Indoor Air Pollutants Through Biotechnology

Removal of Indoor Carbon Dioxide and Formaldehyde Using Green Walls by Bird Nest Fern

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