806 Health Tip: Plants Don’t Really Clean The Air

Growing up I had plants all over the house. I felt like I was living in a jungle. My mom definitely had a green thumb. Me, not so much! I can successfully kill a cactus I am afraid. I heard time and time again how having all those plants were good for us. We had really clean air in my house thanks to them.

Is that true? Did I somehow have this magical place to breathe in all the good for me air that I needed? Or wait was that just Fake News? I would from time to time go to Home Depot on Georgia to buy some plants just because I thought that would keep my home healthier. I mean if I could keep them alive.

Then I found an article from the magazine "The Atlantic' that says the idea that houseplants purify the air is yep.....you may have guessed it.....just a myth.

A lot of different experts were talked to and they all agreed that houseplants don't really clean the air in your home. Well not enough to make a difference. It was thought that could be true because trees clean the air outside, so why wouldn't it work on a smaller scale in your home?

If you filled every square inch of your home with plants, the air wouldn't be much better. Even if you did that, you would still have new air coming in from the outside.

So if you had an average sized room you would actually need about a thousand plants to achieve the same rate of turnover as the average ventilation system. That would mean a thousand plants to take care of. A thousand plants to try to not kill. So that is not really feasible. So get plants because you enjoy them. Don't get plants for the health benefits. I mean unless that benefit is that they make you happy because happiness is a true health benefit. Everything will be great!