How to grow fresh Air
50 houseplants that purify your home or office
Dr. B.C. Wolverton
ISBN 0-14-026243-1
I was stumbling around shopping yesterday when I encountered this book. I was delighted since I was very impressed with a 1984 paper this guy did as part of NASA research.
Basically they were doing closed ecosystem work, and discovered that a number of common houseplants had the ability to remove environmental toxins like formaldehyde, xylene, benzene, toluene, acetone and others directly from the air.
Now in book form it sums up some 25 years of research in this area. The book list 50 common plants in the order of their effectiveness and gives additional data to support the research, as well as easy to care instructions.
One of the more interesting ideas is that these plants emit phytochemicals into the air that suppress mold spores and bacteria.
Got a case of SBS (sick building syndrome) or just want to live a little healthier? You'll find this interesting.
Brian
Member,Extropy Institute
www.extropy.com