Can ornamental potted plants remove volatile organic compounds from indoor air? — a review

Cruz, Majbrit Dela; Christensen, Jan H.; Thomsen, Jane Dyrhauge; Müller, Renate

doi:10.1007/s11356-014-3240-x

Cited by 147 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 107 publications

(222 reference statements)

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“…As plants are a source of VOCs, when selecting them for phytoremediation use the net effect must be considered. The Dela Cruz et al [58] review is an example where over a hundred indoor plant species were reviewed for their net removal capacities.…”

Section: Improving Air Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Living walls in indoor environments

Gunawardena

Steemers

2019

Building and Environment

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The warming climate, projected increase in frequency and severity of extreme heat events, and the long-established heat island phenomenon are all expected to exacerbate urban environmental thermal loading. Active means used for addressing such risks are likely to increase energy consumption and emission trends to create a positive feedback loop that could threaten the health and wellbeing of urban citizens. In response, passive approaches such as green infrastructure enhancements are widely advocated, and to meet the challenges of implementing enhancements in dense cities, attention has been directed toward encouraging surface greening. This paper recognises this trend and considers vertical greening as a developing interest with application opportunity in both exterior and interior urban environments. A review of available studies and interviews with experts found most observations available to be derived from exterior applications. Interior applications consequently have yet to be investigated to determine relative value to indoor environments where most of human habitation is typically concentrated. The integration of plant science studies in this regard is highlighted as essential to develop a balanced evidence base for the enthusiasm observed for promoting indoor living wall installations.

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Section: Improving Air Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Living walls in indoor environments

Gunawardena

Steemers

2019

Building and Environment

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“…Foliage plants are those with attractive foliage and/or flowers that are able to survive and grow indoors (Chen et al, 2005 ). Results showed that foliage plants removed nearly 87% of air pollutants from sealed chambers within 24 h (Wolverton et al, 1984 , 1989 ; Cruz et al, 2014a ). For example, each plant of peace lily ( Spathiphyllum spp.…”

Section: Roles Of Leaves and Phyllosphere Microbes In Air Remediationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phylloremediation of Air Pollutants: Exploiting the Potential of Plant Leaves and Leaf-Associated Microbes

et al. 2017

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Air pollution is air contaminated by anthropogenic or naturally occurring substances in high concentrations for a prolonged time, resulting in adverse effects on human comfort and health as well as on ecosystems. Major air pollutants include particulate matters (PMs), ground-level ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxides (NO2), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). During the last three decades, air has become increasingly polluted in countries like China and India due to rapid economic growth accompanied by increased energy consumption. Various policies, regulations, and technologies have been brought together for remediation of air pollution, but the air still remains polluted. In this review, we direct attention to bioremediation of air pollutants by exploiting the potentials of plant leaves and leaf-associated microbes. The aerial surfaces of plants, particularly leaves, are estimated to sum up to 4 × 108 km2 on the earth and are also home for up to 1026 bacterial cells. Plant leaves are able to adsorb or absorb air pollutants, and habituated microbes on leaf surface and in leaves (endophytes) are reported to be able to biodegrade or transform pollutants into less or nontoxic molecules, but their potentials for air remediation has been largely unexplored. With advances in omics technologies, molecular mechanisms underlying plant leaves and leaf associated microbes in reduction of air pollutants will be deeply examined, which will provide theoretical bases for developing leaf-based remediation technologies or phylloremediation for mitigating pollutants in the air.

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“…Active green walls are a green technology that can simultaneously treat a large number of air pollutants at a relatively low cost. This technology builds upon the vast literature purporting the air phytoremediation potential of potted plants ( [24,[26][27][28], plus references therein). Whilst pollutant reduction by potted plants has been well described, for in situ use, such systems will be severely limited in their efficacy [29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Assessment of the Suitability of Active Green Walls for NO2 Reduction in Green Buildings Using a Closed-Loop Flow Reactor

et al. 2019

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Nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) is a common urban air pollutant that is associated with several adverse human health effects from both short and long term exposure. Additionally, NO 2 is highly reactive and can influence the mixing ratios of nitrogen oxide (NO) and ozone (O 3 ). Active green walls can filter numerous air pollutants whilst using little energy, and are thus a candidate for inclusion in green buildings, however, the remediation of NO 2 by active green walls remains untested. This work assessed the capacity of replicate active green walls to filter NO 2 at both ambient and elevated concentrations within a closed-loop flow reactor, while the concentrations of NO and O 3 were simultaneously monitored. Comparisons of each pollutant's decay rate were made for green walls containing two plant species (Spathiphyllum wallisii and Syngonium podophyllum) and two lighting conditions (indoor and ultraviolet). Biofilter treatments for both plant species exhibited exponential decay for the biofiltration of all three pollutants at ambient concentrations. Furthermore, both treatments removed elevated concentrations of NO and NO 2 , (average NO 2 clean air delivery rate of 661.32 and 550.8 m 3 ·h −1 ·m −3 of biofilter substrate for the respective plant species), although plant species and lighting conditions influenced the degree of NO x removal. Elevated concentrations of NO x compromised the removal efficiency of O 3 . Whilst the current work provided evidence that effective filtration of NO x is possible with green wall technology, long-term experiments under in situ conditions are needed to establish practical removal rates and plant health effects from prolonged exposure to air pollution.

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Can ornamental potted plants remove volatile organic compounds from indoor air? — a review

Cited by 147 publications

References 107 publications

Living walls in indoor environments

Living walls in indoor environments

Phylloremediation of Air Pollutants: Exploiting the Potential of Plant Leaves and Leaf-Associated Microbes

An Assessment of the Suitability of Active Green Walls for NO2 Reduction in Green Buildings Using a Closed-Loop Flow Reactor

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