Chlorophytum comosum aka Spider Plant or airplane plant or hen-and-chickens is native to tropical and southern Africa plant but it is easy to grow as a houseplant.

With lots of long leaves and tiny white flowers, the spider plant is able to eliminate formaldehyde, toluene and xylene, a solvent used in the leather, rubber and printing industries. As an added bonus, this plant is also considered a safe houseplant if you have pets in the house, (remember Snake Plant isn’t). It is also an efficient filter of carbon monoxide. An effective place to grow spider plants is near fireplaces, kitchens and offices.

Likes bright, indirect light or fluorescent lighting, remember to use room temperature rain or purified water. Let the pot surface feel dry to the touch before watering. Water until water drains from the bottom and empty drained water from trays promptly. Remember to repot them in case they grow too big.

Keep it between 40ºF/4.5ºC and 85ºF/29.5ºC.

Aloe Vera is my second must have home plant for many reasons. First of all it is an easy to grow plant, that loves the sun and helps clear the air from formaldehyde and benzene, which can be a byproduct of chemical-based cleaners, paints and more. Aloe is a great choice for sunny kitchen windows and bedrooms. Besides its air-clearing abilities, the aloe gel inside the plant can help heal cuts, burns and other skin issues.

Like Snake Plant, Aloe Vera also produces Oxygen O2 during night time.

If you are planning to grow Aloe Vera indoors then it’s an easy task. Keep the pot on a sunny spot, water deeply, but sparingly (let it drain good). Aloe plants are pretty low-maintenance, since they don’t require much water. if it’s possible use rainwater. Temperature range for a happy aloe plant is between 70°F/21°C – 80°F/26°C but will survive down to 40ºF/5°C.

There are so many devices out there to measure air quality nowadays and the informations are sometimes confusing about what each device is armed with or not. As a result here is a complete guide to choose the right device for you and your needs.

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• Prices may vary during time.
• Some Companies don’t specify on their data sheet if their devices are capable to measure PM2.5 or PM10 and they just mention the word dust.
• Some other companies say: Our product goes beyond CO₂ by analyzing substances that directly affect your well-being by measuring VOCs. They aren’t clear if their devices have CO₂ sensor.
• The classification of the design between Bad, Good and Very Good is based on the materials (plastic, wood, glass and metal) that they have used and the aesthetic on my personal opinion.

Sansevieria trifasciata aka Snake Plant or Mother-In-Law Tongue is one of the best house plants that can clean indoor air but also have a secret ability that most people don’t know which is to produce Oxygen O2 during night time and this is the reason some people also call it Bedroom Plant.

I have three pots of Snake Plant in my home, bedroom, kitchen and my home library.

Snake Plant is capable of removing a big variety of VOCs such as Benzene, Formaldehyde, Trichloroethylene, Xylene and Toluene (lacks ammonia). It is also effective at removing nitrogen oxide.

It is a good plant for the lazy owners. It can be exposed in full sun light but also does well in dim light. It does not need to be watered very often since it is part of the succulent family (It can rot from over-watering). Ideal temperatures are between 5 – 30 °C (40 – 80 °F). Remember to rotate it every month for uniform light exposure.

Keep it away from pets and babies as it is rated as toxic if ingested.

 

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic chemicals that evaporate at ordinary room temperature. For example, formaldehyde, which evaporates from paint, has a boiling point of only –19 °C (–2 °F).

VOCs are numerous, varied, and ubiquitous. They include both human-made and naturally occurring chemical compounds. Most scents or odours are of VOCs.

Basically VOCs are Carbon compounds like:

• Acetone CH3(CO)CH3
  
• Benzene C6H6
• Ethylene glycol C2H6O2
• Formaldehyde CH2O
• Methylene chloride CH2Cl2
• Perchloroethylene C2Cl4
• Toluene C₇H₈
• Xylene C8H10
• 1,3-butadiene C4H6

Many products we have in our homes release or “off-gas” VOCs. Some examples of sources of VOCs are:

• Carpets and adhesives
• Composite wood products
• Paints
• Sealing caulks
• Solvents
• Upholstery fabrics
• Varnishes
• Vinyl Floors

• Air fresheners
• Air cleaners that produce ozone
• Cleaning and disinfecting chemicals
• Cosmetics
• Fuel oil, gasoline
• Moth balls
• Vehicle exhaust running a car in an attached garage

• Cooking
• Dry cleaning
• Hobbies
• Newspapers
• Non-electric space heaters
• Photocopiers
• Smoking
• Stored paints and chemicals
• Wood burning stoves

Studies have shown that the level of VOCs indoors is generally two to five times higher than the level of VOC’s outdoors.

Try to keep your houses out of chemicals, open the windows because your houses need fresh air too. In winter have a timetable that will allow your houses to breathe twice while your heating is off during that time of course. I also use specific plants to help my house be healthier. In the next post I will post some studies and recommendations about which plants are the best for specific VOCs.

As always stay tuned.

A brief overview about PM10 and PM2.5.
Particle pollution, also called particulate matter or PM, are solids material (sometimes liquid too) that float in the air. Some particles are released directly from a specific source, while others form in complicated chemical reactions in the atmosphere.

• Coarse dust particles (PM₁₀) are 2.5 to 10 micrometers in diameter. Sources include crushing or grinding operations and dust stirred up by vehicles on roads, more specific:
  • mold, spores, pollen, smoke, dirt and dust from factories and farming.
• Fine particles (PM_2.5) are 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller, and can only be seen with an electron microscope. Fine particles are produced from all types of combustion, including motor vehicles, power plants, residential wood burning, forest fires, agricultural burning, and some industrial processes:
  • toxic organic compounds and heavy metals

By measuring now these particles we can understand the origin of the pollutions and take specific actions.

How can PM affect health?

Particles in the PM_2.5 size range are able to travel deeply into the respiratory tract, reaching the lungs. Exposure to fine particles can cause short-term health effects such as eye, nose, throat and lung irritation, coughing, sneezing, runny nose and shortness of breath. Exposure to fine particles can also affect lung function and worsen medical conditions such as asthma and heart disease. Scientific studies have linked increases in daily PM_2.5 exposure with increased respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions, emergency department visits and deaths. Studies also suggest that long term exposure to fine particulate matter may be associated with increased rates of chronic bronchitis, reduced lung function and increased mortality from lung cancer and heart disease. People with breathing and heart problems, children and the elderly may be particularly sensitive to PM_2.5.

One of my basic tools for measuring air quality is TZOA, still it is under development but it is getting better every day.

TZOA measures basically fine particles such as PM10 and PM2.5 among other stuff like UV/Light exposure and temperature/humidity levels.

As a wearable device it allows you to carry it everywhere for example work place, gym, home, car etc, so it will allow me to document my everyday exposure into air pollutants and take active actions.

I will talk more about it in my following posts, so as always stay tuned.

This is my very first post.

On this blog I am going to talk about air quality inside and outside of our houses and cities.

I am going to give advices and ways we can improve our health via our respiratory system.

Also I am going to share thoughts, observations and many experiments that I will do with some awesome devices that I have purchased.

Stay tuned !