FollowTheFlow / Adobestock
Besides adding color to your living room, houseplants can help clean the air you breathe. A study by NASA to determine the air-filtering abilities of indoor plants—for use in future space missions—found that many common houseplants can significantly improve indoor air quality. Here are a few:
Areca Palm
This lush, tropical palm will help clean your house of the toxins xylene and toluene. Areca palm scored high in the tests NASA administered and is consistently mentioned as a top air-filtering plant in more recent studies. Yet this palm is probably best known for its ability to naturally humidify the air, which makes it an ideal fit for homes in particularly dry climates.
Golden Pothos
This low-light, vibrant green houseplant helps reduce air toxins such as formaldehyde, benzene, and trichloroethylene. Due to its extremely resilient nature, this plant is easy to care for and propagate. Just be careful with this plant around children and pets; golden pothos can be poisonous if ingested.
Peace Lily
This indoor plant needs indirect sunlight and will help reduce common volatile indoor toxins; it is also one of the few houseplants shown to reduce ammonia. Known for its teardrop-shaped, unique white flowers, peace lily can filter your air and look pretty while doing it.
Parlor Palm
This tropical plant can survive in low-light situations, and, like the peace lily, parlor palm has the ability to help remove ammonia from the air. Of all the plants on this list, it is the safest to keep around your house with its nontoxic leaves.
Dragon Tree
This shrub is recognizable by the unique red edges on its leaves. Studies have shown Dracaena marginata to be effective at reducing the toxins xylene, trichloroethylene, and formaldehyde. This plant is adaptable to lower light and can be placed in some of the less sunny spots in your house.
While these plants cannot, on their own, completely eliminate indoor air toxins, they can help make the air in your home safer to breathe. NASA recommends spreading an assortment of 15 to 18 large air-purifying plants around an 1,800-square-foot house for the best results. And it’s probably wise not to argue with NASA.
