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Purification Ability of Indoor Plants for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)  

Park, Soyoung (Dept. Ocean Eng., Pukyong National University)
Kim, Jeoung (Dept. Environmental Eng., Suwon University)
Jang, Young-Kee (Dept. Environmental Eng., Suwon University)
Sung, Kijune (Ecological Eng. Major, Pukyong National University)
Publication Information
Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment / v.15, no.6, 2006 , pp. 417-423 More about this Journal
Abstract
The purification ability of indoor plants for volatile organic compounds was investigated. Philodendron selloum and Spathiphyllum sp. were tested for removal of toluene and trichloroethylene in the artificially contaminated reactor under laboratory conditions. Each plant was placed in right side of the reactor and the TCE and toluene concentration change with time were monitored. In the reactor with Philodendron, the TCE concentrations of left and right sides were compared to examine the removal effects by plant. In the reactor with Spathiphyllum, air was circulated before sampling, and thus average removal effects by plants on target VOC were observed. Both plants showed clear effects on removal of VOCs from contaminated indoor air. The removal efficiency of Philodendron and Spathiphyllum were similar and showed 30 - 46% and 31 - 47% of purification effects, respectively. The results of this study showed that air purification using plants is an effective means of reduction on indoor VOCs concentration level and reduce related health risk though, supplementary purifying aids or proper ventilation were also suggested.
Keywords
indoor air pollution; indoor plant; air purification; volatile organic compounds; TCE; Toluene;
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