Home plants … The health benefits are essential

For those looking for clean air, improved mood and reduced disease, a number of original plants may be the key. For workplaces that seek to increase worker productivity in their offices and reduce their lack of assistance, adding indoor plants can be one of the means.

– medical view

In recent decades, hundreds of medical studies have been conducted on the relationship between human health and domestic plants, and many of them have shown that they have many benefits for the physical and psychological health when properly cared for.

In the results of some of these studies, the researchers recommended having a facility for 9.3 square meters (100 square feet) in order to feel one of its advantages in cleaning domestic air. According to medical sources, the development of plants, especially those with large leaves, near the office or in the corridors of the house and in the corridors, helps to create moisture in the air and to increase the level of positive emotions, thus helping to observe parts of the verdant nature in the sense of comfort and calmness and speed of disease, It is the result of numerous medical studies on the effects of postoperative vision of hospital gardens by the patients.

Therefore, from a medical point of view, house plants are a good way to improve and maintain the health of the inhabitants of the house, beyond the simple decoration and the improvement of the visual beauty. But why Because its presence provides us with health services useful for the purity of the air we breathe and to obtain positive hormonal and nervous changes in the body, as well as to improve the condition of the body. mood and level of activity necessary to accomplish the tasks of the day, especially with the selection of active domestic plant types in the performance of this task, In terms of quality and size of the leaves, and taking care of the soil and the correct configuration, so as to avoid the concentration of the accumulation of microbes and their growth, as well as their fungi.

– Chinese study

Under the title "The Fundamental Roles of Indoor Plants in Human Health and Wellbeing" in the December issue of Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Chinese researchers published their scientific journal on the subject. "Because people spend 80 to 90 percent of their time in the indoor environment at home or at work, the internal environment is very important to their health," said the researchers in a summary of their study.

Indoor plants are part of the natural indoor environment. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the role and importance of indoor plants for human health and its comfort in terms of psychological effects and air purification. Indoor plants have been shown to have a psychological, indirect, and not directly perceived impact on ability to perform tasks, level of health, and level of stress. Indoor plants can act as internal air purifiers, an effective way of reducing indoor pollutants and human exposure, and have been widely studied in this regard. Indoor plants also have potential applications in other areas, including solar energy, human health and comfort, and the full use of different effects on plants, which are beneficial for the health and well-being of the man.

– Purification of the air

According to medical sources, indoor air pollution can increase the risk of stroke by 34%, heart disease by 26%, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by 22% and respiratory infections in the elderly. children 12%. Percent and lung cancer for 6 percent. Plants, whether external or domestic, are nature's first air purifier and can help eliminate harmful volatile compounds found in fuels, furniture and clothing. For example, extensive research conducted by NASA has revealed that local plants can eliminate up to 87% of toxins from the air in 24 hours.

The results of a number of studies conducted by the Plant and Indoor Environmental Quality Research of the Sydney University of Technology show that the presence of indoor plants helps reduce pollution from indoor and indoor air, Performance helps reduce illness, sick leave, stress and negativity, and improve the image of working with potential customers. They do not create unhealthy mold problems either.

The study adds that attention to indoor air quality is important because its pollution contributes to sick-building syndrome-characterized by coughing, wheezing, headaches, inflammation of the eyes, nose or throat, loss of concentration and nausea. Although air conditioners normally filter out incoming dust particles, they do not remove gaseous pollutants and indoor plants purify all types of air pollutants.

In the Jan. 8 issue of Environmental Science and Technology, researchers at the University of Washington published their findings on genetic modification of plants grown in their own countries to improve their efficiency in air purification. many chemicals suspended in the air. House that has been linked to cancer.

– Elimination of dangerous contaminants

The researchers report that home air can affect the health of its inhabitants and that some volatile airborne chemicals, called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), have been associated with cancer, particularly because VOCs have a higher content (scientifically known). Formaldehyde, benzene and chloroform. The researchers added Gina (linked to the production of an enzyme that helps in detoxification) in the original plants to make it the largest air purification capacity of these volatile organic compounds . Researchers found that genetically modified plants quadrupled their clearance in the air compared to wild plants, while genetically modified plants reduced the chloroform concentration by 82% for the first three days.

"These are all stable compounds, so it's very difficult to get rid of them," said Dr. Stuart Strand, lead author of the study. Without breaking these molecules with a protein enzyme, we have to use high energy processes. It is easier and more sustainable to collect these proteins in domestic plants. "" This enzyme can also be beneficial for plants because it helps the plant convert chloroform into carbon dioxide and chloride ions and turn petrol into a chemical called phenol. Plants use carbon dioxide to make their food and phenol is used to make the components of their cell walls. "

– Bedrooms … Indoor plants for a comfortable night's sleep

When plants breathe daily with photosynthesis, they consume air from carbon dioxide and express gaseous oxygen, thus improving the quality of the air. But the majority of plants do the opposite at night.

So the question is: does this mean that no plant is placed in the bedroom?

The answer is no, because even for the bedrooms, you can choose the appropriate plants for a quiet and comfortable night's sleep, because some plants do the same thing at night and day, that is, consume carbon dioxide and provide oxygen to the ambient air.

Examples of these plants are the well-known orchids, which are placed in hotel rooms, Neem Tree, Peepal Tree with leafy leaves in many Middle Eastern cities, Holy Basil / Tulsi, known for its fragrance odoriferous and its insect repellent, and for the snake plant, known for its colorful leafy stalks, with a dark, mottled mixture of dark green with yellow tips, the famous Aloe vera cactus, the orange gerbera, Areca Palm and other plants. Common interiors, ideal for sleeping in rooms Give it beauty without the oxygen falling asleep in the room at night.

– Indoor plants in productive workplaces and better thinking

The results of numerous scientific and health studies have shown that indoor plants improved concentration and productivity by 15% when placed in desks, reduced stress levels and promoted a positive mood. which made them ideal not only at home, but also in offices.

In his scientific report titled "Indoor Plants at Work" under the title "Office Plants Strengthen Employee Health Wellbeing", the Australian Research Group of the University of Technology from Sydney summed up in a summary that "indoor plants make up more than the cost of their maintenance., Shows that the presence of indoor plants contributes to the reduction of sick leave rates from 20 to 60%. "Results from some studies have also shown a 35% decrease in coughing and wheezing, a 20% reduction in dryness of the eyes and nose and throat, and 37% in stress levels. and anxiety.

– Bacterial indoor plants purify air

The problem of indoor air of homes is that it is always more polluted than outside air, since there are more polluting internal sources, such as plastic and plastic materials in the furniture, furniture, paints, solvents, computers, etc.

Domestic air pollutants consist of 5 main groups:

> Oxides and oxides of sulfur.

Carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.

> Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) from plastics, furniture, paints, solvents, computers, appliances, wires and others.

> Micro particles of dust and others.

> Ozone.

These five groups of air pollutants are processed by national plants with different mechanisms to eliminate and adjust their rates.

Scientific research shows that the main means used by domestic plants to remove volatile organic compounds is colonies of bacteria that inhabit the root zone bacterium. These organic compounds absorbed by plants do not accumulate but are then destroyed by bacteria to produce carbon dioxide and water, a process that takes place night and day.

The Australian research group discovered in the results of one of its studies that the presence of 3 to 6 plants in a room or office maintained volatile organic compound levels of less than 100 to 200 ppb (ppb), a excellent result because the maximum health allowed for these compounds. The internal environment (total recommended total VOC) must be less than 500 parts per billion. It also showed a 10% reduction in carbon dioxide concentration.