While many people are quite careful about the kind of food they eat and the water they drink, what about the air you breathe? If you live in a modern house, chances are there's any number of toxic chemicals in the air. There's benzene and xylene from car exhaust, toluene from paints, and things like formaldehyde and ammonia that come from a large variety of sources. Fortunately, there's an easy and effective way to clean the air that's been used for hundreds of millions of years: plants. Research at NASA and other sources was collected to produce the following list of plants that show a remarkable ability for filtering toxic chemicals out of the air:
Copied from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_air-filtering_plants
| Plant, Top remover of: | benzene | formaldehyde | trichloroethylene | xylene and toluene |
ammonia | Poisonous or Edible?[6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dwarf date palm (Phoenix roebelenii) | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Non-toxic to cats |
| Areca palm (Dypsis lutescens) | No | No | No | Yes | No | Non-toxic to cats |
| Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata 'Bostoniensis') | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Non-toxic to cats |
| Kimberly queen fern (Nephrolepis obliterata) | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Non-toxic to cats |
| English ivy (Hedera helix) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Toxic to cats |
| Lilyturf (Liriope spicata) | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Non-toxic to cats |
| Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Non-toxic to cats |
| Devil's ivy (Epipremnum aureum) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Poisonous if eaten or chewed by pets or children[7] |
| Peace lily (Spathiphyllum 'Mauna Loa') | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Mildly toxic to cats and dogs |
| Flamingo lily (Anthurium andraeanum) | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Poisonous[8] |
| Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema modestum) | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Toxic to cats |
| Bamboo palm (Chamaedorea seifrizii) | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Non-toxic to cats |
| Broadleaf lady palm (Rhapis excelsa) | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Non-toxic to cats |
| Variegated snake plant, mother-in-law's tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata 'Laurentii') | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Toxic to cats and dogs [10] |
| Heartleaf philodendron (Philodendron cordatum) | No | Yes | No | No | No | Toxic to cats |
| Selloum philodendron (Philodendron bipinnatifidum) |
No | Yes | No | No | No | Toxic to cats |
| Elephant ear philodendron (Philodendron domesticum) | No | Yes | No | No | No | Toxic to cats |
| Red-edged dracaena (Dracaena reflexa) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Toxic to dogs and cats [11] |
| Cornstalk dracaena (Dracaena fragrans 'Massangeana') | No | Yes | No | No | No | Toxic to cats |
| Weeping fig (Ficus benjamina)[12] | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Poisonous if eaten or chewed by dogs, cats and horses[13] |
| Barberton daisy (Gerbera jamesonii) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Non-toxic to cats |
| Florist's chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Poisonous if eaten or chewed by dogs, cats and horses[14] |
| Rubber plant (Ficus elastica) | No | Yes | No | No | No | Toxic to cats |
| Dendrobium orchids (Dendrobium spp.) | No | No | No | Yes | No | Non-toxic to cats |
| Dumb canes (Dieffenbachia spp.) | No | No | No | Yes | No | Causes oral inflammation in children[15] and animals[16] if chewed |
| King of hearts (Homalomena wallisii) | No | No | No | Yes | No | Â ? |
| Moth orchids (Phalaenopsis spp.) | No | No | No | Yes | No | Non-toxic to cats |
For more reading, also check out this article from The Diligent Gardener.
