Your home is your castle; it’s where you spend the majority of your time, eat most of your meals, and sleep one-third of your life away. You already clean your home with nontoxic cleaners, so wouldn’t it make sense that you should also be doing something natural to clean the air you breathe, too? Houses are built with all sorts of toxic chemicals depending on when they are built, including formaldehyde, lead, benzene, and trichloroethylene – and something has got to clean the air to help eliminate those toxic pollutants from hanging around inside.

According to NASA, it is recommended that a 2,000 square foot house have at least 15-18 plants in them… which is a lot. I know I don’t have even half that many in mine! But the more plants you have (especially from the list below), the better the chances that they will do a good job of cleaning your indoor air. Since the air inside your home is usually of worse quality than the air outside your home (it’s true, look it up), it’s important we keep plants inside to filter the air and remove as many volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) as possible. They take in the toxins, absorb and filter them out, and release cleaner oxygen back into the home. It’s like having an energy-sucking air purifier running 24/7, with the right plants placed throughout the home.

With all that in mind, here’s how you can use certain plants to clean the air without having to resort to fake products like Febreze and the like. Most of these plants are easy to care for and safe for pets (but be sure to check for your particular pet before bringing one home), even for the black-thumbed like myself.

Formaldehyde

Formaldehyde comes from insulation, plywood, carpets, furniture, and some industrial cleaning agents. It is a gas at room temperature, is colorless, and has a terrible odor.

Plants capable of removing formaldehyde include:

Corn Plant
Spider Plant
Philodendron species
Bamboo palm
Golden Pothos
Potted Mum
Areca Palm
Ficus Alii
Boston Fern
Baby Rubber Plant
Kimberly Queen Fern
Moth Orchid

Lead

Lead is used lead-acid batteries, solder, pewter, and many other metal products. It is incredibly poisonous and can damage the central nervous system.

Plants capable of removing lead include:

Sunflowers
Ornamental Kale, mustard greens, collards, and broccoli planted in soil can help clean up contaminated soils
Water Hyssop
Water hyacinth

Benzene

Benzene comes from cigarette, pipe, and cigar smoke, petroleum candles, synthetic fibers, plastic, and some detergents. It is a natural constituent of crude oil.

Plants capable of removing benzene Include:

Dragon Tree
Janet Craig
Potted Mum
Gerbera Daisy
Ribbon Plant
English Ivy
Moth Orchid
Peace Lily
Areca Palm
Bamboo palm
Ficus Alii
Boston Fern

Trichloroethylene

Trichloroethylene enters the home via your dry cleaning, glues and adhesives, paint removers, lacquers and varnishes, and industrial solvents. It is a clear non-flammable liquid with a sweet smell.

Plants capable of removing trichloroethylene include:

Dragon Tree
Potted Mum
Peace Lily
Gerbera Daisy
Ribbon Plant
Bamboo palm
Ficus Alii
Boston Fern

Whether it’s the paint on the walls, the carpets on the floors, the furniture in your living room, or the pipes in the bathroom, there are all sorts of toxic items in your home that are possibly emitting pollutants. Utilizing some of these plants will mitigate at least some of the risk we face while living in our homes. Be sure to follow the sunlight/watering needs carefully so your plants will last a long time and do what they are best at doing – cleaning our air!