4 health benefits of having plants at home

Breathing is vital. It is known that we can live several weeks without solid food, several days without drinking, but just a few minutes without fresh air. Although Breathing quality air is essential for healthindoor air can be two to five times more polluted than street air, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US agency that oversees environmental health.

Although natural ventilation is one of the most effective systems for renewing the air inside the home –about 15 minutes a day is enough–, If we resort to plants we will have an effective natural purification system.

Why is it important to have plants at home?

Studies indicate that the air inside buildings can contain harmful substances that can cause irritation when inhaled, headaches, malaise, or breathing problemsa common problem derived from the sick building syndrome.

The air is composed mainly of nitrogen and oxygen, and in small proportions it carries in suspension an infinite number of different chemical particles and molecules, both of natural and artificial origin, in greater or lesser concentration depending on whether you live in a rural or urban area. or industrial.

Indoor plants act as effective purifiers, mainly of the so-called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), substances that contain carbon in their composition and that have the characteristic of volatilizing.

These compounds reach the interior of the home through furniture, upholstery, fabrics, carpets, paints, glues, varnishes, cleaning products, garden products or personal hygiene products. Some VOCs cause irritation of the ocular and respiratory mucous membranes., act as allergens, produce headaches, dizziness or fatigue; others may cause central nervous system damage, bioaccumulate, act as hormone disruptors, or be carcinogenic.

Health benefits of having plants at home

1. Plants purify the air at home

Studies by NASA scientist Bill Wolverton, already in the 80s, showed the ability of indoor plants to clean polluted air of chemicals harmful to health, and verified that house plants removed most of the toxic indoor air in 24 hours.

Each plant, in addition to absorbing the basic chemical compounds from the air –nitrogen, oxygen, carbon–, has more or less affinity for some of the chemical compounds that usually remain suspended in the air, such as carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, trichlorethylene, xylenes, benzene, or ammonia.

The philodendrons, azaleas and diphembaquias they filter formaldehyde from the air (present in construction materials, plywood furniture, synthetic paints, glues and glues, or cigarette smoke).

The daisies and chrysanthemums they absorb excess benzene from indoor air (present in cigarette smoke, cleaners, detergents…). The azaleas, the spoonbill or the rapis (Rhapis excelsa) are efficient in removing ammonia.

The reduction in the concentration of volatile compounds is more intense when the plants have natural light, as indicated by the results of a study published in 2007 by the Department of Sustainable Architecture and Engineering at Hanyang University in Seoul.

The researchers concluded that when plants were placed near a window, in a sunny area, the reduction in VOC concentration was greater; and the greater the number of plants, the greater the reduction of indoor air pollutants.

Thus, in practice it is advisable to have several different species of plants to take full advantage of the benefits of vegetables as air cleaners. Having one or two plants for every 10 square meters of interior space, near the windows, is a very healthy option.

2. Plants regulate humidity and reduce noise

Another of the beneficial aspects of plants is their capacity for hygrometric regulationsince they evaporate water according to the humidity levels already existing in the air.

According to a study conducted at the Norwegian University of Agriculture, indoor plants can help reduce fatigue by 30%coughs, sore throats and other cold-related illnesses, and partially increase humidity levels in dry environments.

Also can help reduce dust by up to 20%. In dry environments, with ambient relative humidity values ​​of less than 45%, unpleasant electrostatic discharges are usually generated, something very common in so-called intelligent buildings and in highly technical environments (with a predominance of electronic equipment, carpets, floors, furniture and materials). synthetic).

Plants help reduce environmental electrostatic charge, by absorbing electrical charges and providing moisture to the environment. In the same way that abundant vegetation –trees, shrubs– is used as a barrier to mitigate the sound impact of traffic in urban areas, in interior spaces we can also use plants for the advantages they offer as noise attenuators.

Research conducted by London’s South Bank University concluded that species such as the the spatiphyll, the philodendron, the dracaena and the ficus benjamina They are the ones that act most effectively as sound wave mitigators.

3. Plants help improve our mental health

The reduction of harmful substances in the environment It not only has positive consequences for health, but also affects people’s psychological well-being. Studies carried out in workplaces and schools show how indoor plants increase creativity and ease in performing tasks and even promote relationships and good humor.

This is corroborated by a study from the Bunkyo Gakuin University of Japan: in schools where there are plants in the classrooms, students show a higher level of attention and concentration, with more favorable academic results. Researchers from the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Technology in Sydney (Australia) have published the results of a study showing how indoor plants improve work environments, increasing productivity by up to 12% and reducing absenteeism.

Some hospitals and health centers are also beginning to take note of these effects of plants. Dr. Howard Frumkin, a scientist at Emory University, Atlanta, United States, believes that the presence of plants indoors can prevent and treat disease. According to this researcher, “despite the fact that it is known that exposure and more direct contact with nature can be restorative, unfortunately this is hardly reflected in the area of ​​health. Solid evidence may not yet be available, but it is could be the basis of traditional ‘health gardens’ in hospitalsand horticulture therapy that is now being used in children’s hospitals and nursing homes.

In this same line of research, the University of Twente (Holland) published in January 2008 the results of a study that analyzes the influence of plants on stress reduction in the health center environment. The methodology used consisted of showing the patients rooms in the health center with plants and rooms with some urban motif painted on the wall; then we proceeded to measure the perceived tension and the perceived attractiveness of the space (hospital room).

The conclusion of the study confirms the properties of plants in reducing stress and tension. Plants help heal the body and mindas captured in a headline of a study published in Japan that concluded that “seeing trees extends life.”

4. Plants bring nature into the home

After the wonderful benefits that plants provide us, we cannot fail to highlight the most obvious, their beauty.

Surrounding yourself with pleasant environments, which provide us with harmony and serenity, is a vital point to maintain the balance of the body and mind, apart from being a gift for the eyes.

Even if you don’t have much space, it is easy to introduce vegetation into the house: a sunny corner of the living room and dining room, the kitchen sill or the mitigation of problems within the home.

Some more respectful and no less effective options are:

For fungi such as powdery mildew or powdery mildew, spray the plant with a 5% water dilution of buttermilk or yogurt. For aphids, potassium soap dilution (10 grams in a liter of water) or garlic extract (3 cloves crushed per liter of water) give excellent results.

Plants that may not be suitable to put in the house

Certain species contain substances that can act as allergens for certain peopletriggering reactions such as irritation of the respiratory and eye mucous membranes or eczema, as well as hypersensitivity reactions to plant fragrances.

One of the most common indoors, such as the ficus benjamina, can cause problems such as allergic rhinitis, asthma or hives to people allergic to its milky sap. The sap of the diphembakia It is toxic but far from it as stated on the Internet.

The flowering plants can be problematic for people allergic to certain pollens