Health News Blog provides coverage of current health news.

After about twenty years research, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has finally found a workable weapon in the war against indoor air pollution: house plants! Scientists working with space capsules always had to deal with small, cramped spaces in which astronauts spent long hours working without fresh air. Space vehicles are full, I am sure, of gadgets that pollute the air. They discovered that several common varieties of house plants are able to gobble up a wide range of contaminants, from benzene in tobacco smoke to formaldehyde in household cleaners. The Environmental Protection Association of the USA has found that the concentrations of some toxic chemicals in ordinary homes and office buildings are 200-500 per cent higher than those in the outside air. This is why the resulting health problems are sometimes called the ‘Sick Building Syndrome’. When they hear this term, people tend to associate the word ‘building’ with office blocks, skyscrapers and so on, without realising that their own home or flat is also a building.
As we have seen, common sources of pollutants are adhesives, carpeting, vinyl or rubber moulding, pressed wood, copying machines, cooking gas, cleaning agents and pesticides. There is no doubt in my mind that these can cause or aggravate a variety of conditions, including chronic fatigue syndrome. People who are very sensitive or already overloaded are affected by the chemicals buildings contain and usually complain of headaches, irritated eyes, drowsiness, skin rashes, difficulty in breathing and a host of other allergy-related conditions. Worse, these acute symptoms may be followed years later by more severe health consequences. We know that formaldehyde, benzene and trichloroethylene — three of the most common indoor pollutants — are able to reactivate dormant or latent viruses, and they are suspected of. causing a variety of cancers. According to the US government reports, indoor contaminants cost the nation tens of billions of dollars per year in lost productivity and medical bills.
As far back as 1973, when NASA found that the air inside Skylab 3 was contaminated with over 100 chemicals, space scientists realised they had a big problem. Environmental engineers were called in to solve the problem. Since plants recycle oxygen, one specialist reasoned, they might have a hidden talent for breaking down pollutants as well. So he exposed plants to high concentrations of different chemicals. The findings were interesting, to say the least:
Aloe Vera removed 90 per cent of the formaldehyde in the air within 24 hours.
Marginata reduced benzene concentrations by almost 80 per cent.
Peace Lily cut trichloroethylene by 50 per cent.
Since no one plant can tackle all pollutants, the scientists suggest cultivating a mixture of plants which excel at breaking down different classes of compounds. One or two plants per 10 square metres is usually sufficient, though severe problems may require air venting or removing pollutant sources as well.
To maximise anti-pollution capabilities, a ‘filter planter’ or high-tech flowerpot has been developed. The container holds a hydroponic growth medium of carbon and porous clay pebbles which traps pollutants more effectively than ordinary soil.
*28\145\2*