It seems like every workplace has that one person who swears that the potted spider plant sitting on their desk has an almost magical ability to purify the air in the office.
Are they actually onto something?
There is evidence to show that plants can remove pollutants from indoor air.
But a single potted plant probably won't go the distance.
If you've heard that bringing plants into your home or office will improve your indoor air quality, you probably have a study conducted back in 1989 by NASA to thank for that.
The goal was to test whether a variety of types of indoor plants could be used for air purification, both on Earth and in space.
The plants were put into sealed containers, and the air pumped full of chemicals including benzene and formaldehyde.
Those chemicals fall under the broader umbrella of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.
Some VOCs are known to cause health issues like headaches or liver and kidney damage.
And they're noteworthy as indoor pollutants because household products and building materials can give them off.
