Can Houseplants Improve Air Quality?

We all have that coworker who insists that the houseplants on their desks are improving the office air quality, but is there any truth to that?

Hosted by: Olivia Gordon

----------
----------
Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever:

Bill & Katie Scholl, Adam Brainard, Greg, Alex Hackman, Andrew Finley Brenan, Sam Lutfi, D.A. Noe, الخليفي سلطان, Piya Shedden, KatieMarie Magnone, Scott Satovsky Jr, Charles Southerland, Patrick D. Ashmore, charles george, Kevin Bealer, Chris Peters
----------
Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet?
----------
Sources:

[SciShow]

Note: At 1:54, the graphic should say "1 m^3" instead of "1 m^2." Thanks to everyone who caught that!

[tildemat]

"You'd need approximately 680 indoor plants"


...

Is that a challenge? I did want more indoor plants...

[thedude]

So what you are basically saying is I just need 10 more plants ? Aight, to the flower shop

[PaleGhost]

So what you're saying is I should live in a greenhouse for max effect, right?

[Danilego]

"680 separate plants" So, your average Grandma house?

[yeat]

Correction: 1:50, a "cubic meter" is m^3 not m^2.

[-subscriberswithahammerad]

If this is true, then im turning my house into an indoor forest

[JM-bbxi]

I was a janitor in college for a office building. There was one floor with lots of spider plants and it was always the freshest floor, despite being in the middle of the building. Definitely something to it I think.

[mashamitchell]

Whether it improves the air is irrelevant. It improves everyone's moods. Especially in the winter when everything outside looks dead.

[TheFeather]

All I'm hearing is "Buy more plants!"

[lazyperfectionist]

"So don't count on your poor desk fern to fix all of your indoor air problems."
No. Keep a fern on your desk because it's a nice plant.

[Roarshark]

Personal anecdote here: I turned my previous apartment into a forest and it was great, end of story. I'm working on doing the same with my new place now.

[RoxaneJ]

Don't care if my pants purify my air, they soothe my soul !

[JeremyWS]

I just use office plants to make the office place look prettier.

[bigredwolf]

An indoor rainforest you say? It would seem that Earthships have you covered

[Phartonium]

At least it has a positive impact on happiness, I guess?

[Azurus]

This was still over the course of what.... 24 hours? Surely due to dispersion it would still have an efect over a wider area and a longer time to purify the air arorund itself, no? I mean, you're not constantly pumping the air with pollutants 24/7 so it should still be a net benefit to keep the plants around, right?

[marygebbie]

I thought it was more for mental health that having/taking care of plants is good for you

[thecountrychemist]

Ugh. Scishow beat me to it. I was in the process of making a video on this very subject since I have a background in both chemistry and horticulture. I have part of it already filmed and on my computer for editing. That is okay. Good work Scishow. You have always been an inspiration to me and I will work on this a bit longer just to make sure I don't look like I am copying any of your work. Love you guys and your videos. Truly inspired me to help educate. I have been working as a tutor in chemistry, math, physics, and biology for the past few years because of channels like yours.

[sogerc]

1:55 A cubic meter is on the 3rd power.