The NASA Clean Air Study was a project led by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in association with the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) in 1989, to research ways to clean the air in sealed environments such as space stations. Its results suggested that, in addition to absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen through photosynthesis, certain common indoor plants may also provide a natural way of removing volatile organic pollutants (benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene were tested).[1]
These results are not applicable to typical buildings, where outdoor-to-indoor air exchange already removes VOCs at a rate that could only be matched by the placement of 10–1000 plants/m2 of a building's floor space.[2]
The results also failed to replicate in future studies, with a 2014 review stating that:[3]
While the plant's ability to take up VOCs is well documented in laboratory studies, the effect of plants on indoor air in complex environments like offices requires further investigations to clarify the full capacity of plants in real-life settings.
- ^ BC Wolverton; WL Douglas; K Bounds (September 1989). Interior landscape plants for indoor air pollution abatement (Report). NASA. NASA-TM-101766.
- ^ Cummings, Bryan E.; Waring, Michael S. (March 2020). "Potted plants do not improve indoor air quality: a review and analysis of reported VOC removal efficiencies". Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. 30 (2): 253–261. Bibcode:2020JESEE..30..253C. doi:10.1038/s41370-019-0175-9. PMID 31695112. S2CID 207911697.
- ^ Dela Cruz, M; Christensen, JH; Thomsen, JD; Müller, R (2014). "Can ornamental potted plants remove volatile organic compounds from indoor air? – a review" (PDF). Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 21 (24): 13909–13928. Bibcode:2014ESPR...2113909D. doi:10.1007/s11356-014-3240-x. PMID 25056742. S2CID 207272189. Retrieved 15 August 2018.