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Critical Analysis and Modern Application of Foliage Plants for Improving Indoor Air

Quality

Maxwell Brule

Red Rocks Community College

English Composition 2

Jenine Tetamore

November 20, 2022

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Bill C. Wolverton wrote Foliage Plants for Improving Indoor Air Quality in 1987 and

was published by NASA on January 1, 1988. The electronically accessible version was then

acquired on August 16, 2013 by the NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS). Wolvertons article

which is now reaching four decades old is still often cited in more current studies and research

journals, the influence his initial discoveries have are the catalyst for countless studies regarding

houseplants and their ability to purify the air of their environments. From there it has branched

from the horticultural field into the psychological and physiological fields due to the discovered

impacts houseplants have on the human body and psyche. Wolvertons original purpose was

analyzing indoor plant air pollutant removal for application in space shuttles, thus the NASA

publication. Wolverton starts the article by addressing, at the time, the phenomenon known as

“sick building syndrome”. The factors of this “sick building syndrome” are prevalent and in

greater magnitude today in comparison to when this article was written, “Two of the key

ingredients which have contributed to today’s potentially serious indoor air pollution problems

are tightly constructed buildings with dramatically reduced ventilation rates and the radical

change in the nature of building materials and household furnishings'' (Wolverton 1988). Tight

and confined buildings or by any means, environments in which people spend a majority of their

time have more effects on those in these environments than just air purity complications. While

the 2020 pandemic was detrimental to general mental health, it did provide an excellent

controlled environment to analyze the limited spaces that many residents were confined to. Thus

Dzhambov et al studied mental health across various students in relation to what access they had

to greenery, “Clinically-meaningful symptoms of moderate depression and anxiety were reported

by approximately 33% and 20% of the students, respectively. The relative abundance of greenery

visible from the home or in the neighborhood was associated with reduced depressive/anxiety
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symptoms and lower depression/anxiety rates” (Dzhambov et al., 2021). It is fair to say

Wolvertons study could’ve also covered the mental health effects an enclosed chamber such as a

space shuttle would have on the astronauts but was likely disregarded due to those aspects not

being the focus of his study.

Wolveton studied thirteen different common indoor plant species and their ability to

remove air pollutants, mainly carbon monoxide and formaldehyde. Wolvertons experiment used

two 350 square foot rooms developed by NASA for testing. One control and the other where the

plants were evaluated. Wolverton ultimately found that the plant leaves and roots were both

responsible for the removal of pollutants with the leaves being capable of removing lower levels

of chemicals such as carbon monoxide and formaldehyde. However, the highest level of

pollutant removal was found when filtering the air through the plant roots surrounded by

activated carbon. This method by far yielded the strongest results and could purify the air at a

much higher rate (Wolverton 1988). Using very similar methods as Wolvertons, a 2009 study

tested 28 different plant species and their ability to remove benzene, toluene, octane,

trichloroethylene (TCE), and α-pinene. What mostly varies between this examination and

Wolvertons is the specificity that Yang et al took when analyzing the different species. Yang et al

discovered that of their 28 test subjects, Hemigraphis alternata, Hedera helix, Hoya carnosa,

and Asparagus densiflorus were the most effective at removing each pollutant that was tested

(Yang et al., 2009). This study also continues to mention a point that Wolverton made and as

mentioned in this before, is a growing issue, “The importance of indoor air quality to human

health has become of increasing interest in developed countries where inhabitants often spend

over 90% of their time indoors” (Yang et al., 2009). To summarize, Wolvertons original findings

are not only a pioneer for current studies and research, but also highlight the increasingly
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important issues that our modernization and technological development as a species are

subjecting ourselves to. Wolverton had no way of knowing the level of outreach and influence

this study would have on the horticultural field of study. To this day, there are various other

studies either referencing or studying Wolvertons findings in Foliage Plants for Improving

Indoor Air Quality, it isn’t hard to find some article or journal that references Wolvertons work at

least once. It is clear to see in hindsight why this article was so prominent in the study of the

benefits of houseplants. It was one of the first studies on the topic to be applied at such a

professional level as NASA, which arguably is why this is such a popular paper to study. Not

only did Wolverton pioneer the study of houseplants and their benefit on their environments, but

he also shed light onto how expansive a subject horticulture can be.

All in all, Wolverton outlined the path in which many more groundbreaking and

continuously expansive studies could thrive. Thanks to his collaborative work with NASA we

know of many benefits achieved through houseplants as well as how they accomplish these

results.
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References

Berger, J., Essah, E., Blanusa, T., & Beaman, C. P. (2022). The appearance of indoor plants and

their effect on people's perceptions of indoor air quality and subjective well-being.

Building and Environment, 219, 109151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109151

Dzhambov, A. M., Lercher, P., Browning, M. H. E. M., Stoyanov, D., Petrova, N., Novakov, S.,

& Dimitrova, D. D. (2021). Does greenery experienced indoors and outdoors provide an

escape and support mental health during the COVID-19 quarantine? Environmental

Research, 196, 110420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110420

Wolverton, B. C. (2013, August 16). Foliage plants for improving indoor air quality - NASA

technical reports server (NTRS). NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server. Retrieved

September 28, 2022, from https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19930073015

Yang, D. S., Pennisi, S. V., Son, K., & Kays, S. J. (2009). Screening Indoor Plants for Volatile

Organic Pollutant Removal Efficiency, HortScience horts, 44(5), 1377-1381. Retrieved

Sep 1, 2022, from

https://journals.ashs.org/hortsci/view/journals/hortsci/44/5/article-p1377.xml