Effectiveness of plants for passive removal of particulate matter is low in the indoor environment

Abstract

Particulate air pollution is a major health concern and is responsible for about one in nine premature deaths worldwide. Significant exposure to particulate matter (PM) may happen indoors because people spend a large fraction of their time inside buildings. Indoor plants have been suggested as a potential solution for removing PM; however, their effectiveness has not been well characterized. We quantified the ability of eleven different plant species to remove airborne PM through experiments conducted in an environmental chamber. By introducing PM into the chamber and measuring its removal rate with and without the plants, we estimated plants’ deposition velocities and clean air delivery rates (CADRs).