Houseplants That Fight Sick House Syndrome

Are your eyes watering when you enter your room with the new carpet or paint? Do you get a headache when entering your building where you work? Sick Building Syndrome commonly causes these and other symptoms. Recent research has proven that certain houseplants can help remove outgases that occur from certain sources such as new carpeting, fresh paint, new furniture, cleaning agents, pesticides, vehicle exhausts, smoke, pollen, bacteria, viruses and molds.

Symptoms associated with Sick Building Syndrome are headaches, eye, nose and throat irritation, dry cough, dry or itchy skin; dizziness and nausea, difficulty concentrating, fatigue or sensitivity to odors. Other symptoms are fever and chills, chest tightness, muscle aches, allergic reactions, watering eyes, hoarseness, heart palpitations, miscarriages, shortness of breath, nosebleeds, mental fogginess, and tremors, swelling of the legs and ankles and even cancer in some cases. Trying to work or live with these symptoms can be miserable, but help is only a nursery away, in the form of certain houseplants.

Research performed by NASA has proven that houseplants can help remove the indoor air pollution that cause Sick Building Syndrome, which occurs in closed or poorly ventilated offices and residences. These houseplants accomplish this task by removing the substances from of the air through tiny opening in their leaves. Air pollutants are also removed through the roots and soil associated with houseplants. To fight Sick Building Syndrome with houseplants, place fifteen to eighteen plants, in 6-8” pots, throughout an 1800 square foot house for a ratio of 1 plant per 100 square feet of building. So decorating your house with beautiful houseplants not only improves the house anesthetically, it can prove to help with the residents’ health.