Appropriate placement of indoor plants can help reduce carbon dioxide levels in the home, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday.
The agency touted popular household greenery such as ferns, gardenia and English ivy as excellent remedies for curbing airborne pollutants in the home. The EPA said an urban dweller on average spends 80 percent to 90 percent of their day indoors. A prolonged period in a closed environment can cause “Sick Building Syndrome” (SBS), which includes physical discomfort such as headaches, itchy eyes, dry skin, nausea, fatigue and an inability to concentrate.
Inadequate ventilation and long-term contact with indoor pollutants such as emissions from vehicles and factories, as well as dust particles in the air, can cause health risks, said Yeh Der-ming (葉德銘), a professor at the Department of Horticulture at National Taiwan University and the director of the Highland Experimental Farm.
PHOTO: CNA
An easy and aesthetically pleasing solution to the problem, he said, is placing various indoor plants in different rooms of the home.
For example, potted plants such as begonias, maidenhair fern and gloxinina are perfect for the doorways or places with high traffic volume because they are excellent at absorbing dust particles, he said.
For the living room, which is often the most popular place for families to spend time, plants such as pointsettias, Boston ferns, African violets, English ivy or devil’s ivy are ideal for reducing carbon dioxide and formaldehyde levels, the professor said.
Because of the humidity and the levels of toxin released into the air in the bathroom, Yeh suggested putting two or three peacock plants, parlor palms or orchids close to the window.
In addition to purifying the air in the home, indoor plants also provide a cooling effect and a more peaceful and low-stress ambiance, the EPA said.
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