Evaluating In Silico the Potential Health and Environmental Benefits of Houseplant Volatile Organic Compounds for an Emerging ‘Indoor Forest Bathing’ Approach (original) (raw)
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Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2020
Essential oils are frequently used as natural fragrances in housecleaning products and air fresheners marketed as green and healthy. However, these substances are volatile and reactive chemical species. This review focuses on the impact of essential oilbased household products on indoor air quality. First, housecleaning products containing essential oils are explored in terms of composition and existing regulations. Specific insight is provided regarding terpenes in fragranced housecleaning products, air fresheners, and pure essential oils. Second, experimental methodologies for terpene monitoring, from sampling to experimental chambers and analytical methods, are addressed, emphasizing the experimental issues in monitoring terpenes in indoor air. Third, the temporal dynamics of terpene emissions reported in the literature are discussed. Despite experimental discrepancies, essential oil-based products are significant sources of terpenes in indoor air, inducing a high exposure of occupants to terpenes. Finally, the fate of terpenes is explored from sorptive and reactive points of view. In addition to terpene deposition on surfaces, indoor oxidants may induce homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions, resulting in secondary pollutants, such as formaldehyde and secondary organic aerosols. Overall, essential oil-based products can negatively impact indoor air quality; therefore, standard protocols and real-scale approaches are needed to explore the indoor physics and chemistry of terpenes, from emissions to reactivity.
Progress in Energy and Environment
Poor indoor air quality (IAQ) has developed a positive relationship with human health risks. Recently, research findings reported that the pollution level of indoor air could be 2 – 5 times higher than the outdoor air. In some studies, the poor IAQ could reach up to 100 times or more in a natural/ mechanical ventilated building. IAQ depends heavily on the ambient air quality and pollutants/ contaminants produced by household activities. Poor IAQ could lead to various health issues, i.e., asthma, lung cancer, dizziness, fatigue, headaches, etc. One of the possible solutions to overcome the poor IAQ problem is the utilisation of indoor botanical to improve the IAQ. The phytoremediation of botanical is an affordable and environmentally friendly approach to purify the polluted indoor air. Although there is no established recommendation for determining the best indoor botanical in improving the IAQ, many studies have revealed the ability of specific indoor botanicals to remove pollutants...
Forest Volatile Organic Compounds and Their Effects on Human Health: A State-of-the-Art Review
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020
The aim of this research work is to analyze the chemistry and diversity of forest VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and to outline their evidence-based effects on health. This research work was designed as a narrative overview of the scientific literature. Inhaling forest VOCs like limonene and pinene can result in useful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects on the airways, and the pharmacological activity of some terpenes absorbed through inhalation may be also beneficial to promote brain functions by decreasing mental fatigue, inducing relaxation, and improving cognitive performance and mood. The tree composition can markedly influence the concentration of specific VOCs in the forest air, which also exhibits cyclic diurnal variations. Moreover, beneficial psychological and physiological effects of visiting a forest cannot be solely attributed to VOC inhalation but are due to a global and integrated stimulation of the five senses, induced by all specific characteristics of the...
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) have proved hazardous towards human health, especially Benzene and Formaldehyde. The research focussed on comparing the effectiveness of plants and air purifiers in absorbing VOCs from the atmosphere. The latter solution contains HEPA filters and activated carbon filters, both of which are known to absorb VOCs. Two variables were tested, which included the level of Formaldehyde (HCHO) and the level of Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC). The test was carried out by spraying equal amounts of deodorant in each room, one with the plant and one with the air purifier, to increase the amount of VOCs in the rooms in order to check how much was absorbed by the two levels of solutions. A pollution monitor was used to measure the VOC concentrations. After carrying out statistical analysis (paired sample t-tests) at the 95% confidence level on a software called JASP, it was shown that the plant used, Sansevieria Trifasciata, absorbed VOCs, especially Formaldehyde, more effectively than the air purifier.
Forests
Forest bathing is based upon a Japanese practice known as Shinrin–Yoku and is a nature-based therapy involving mindful walks through ancient woodland to reduce stress and anxiety. One proposed mechanism behind the effectiveness of Forest bathing is based on the potential mental and physical health benefits of the natural volatile organic compounds (NVOCs) that fill the forest understory. Surprisingly little is known about the concentrations and diversity of plant NVOCs in ambient air particularly in the UK and this study aims to increase that knowledge. Air samples were collected in July 2022 in a UK forest and compared with samples from a walled garden environment. The samples were collected over a 2 h time period and analysed using GC-MS and showed clear differences in the chemical composition of the air. This study revealed NVOCs including limonene, carvone, terpenes, terpenoids and sesquiterpenoids were present within a UK forest but were either not present or present at little ...
The Impact of Plants on the Reduction of Volatile Organic Compounds in a Small Space
Journal of PHYSIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 2007
This study aims at examining the reduction of indoor air contaminants by plants placed in an indoor space. Field measurements were performed using Aglaonema brevispathum, Pachira aquatica, and Ficus benjamiana, which were verified as air-purifying plants by NASA. Three conditions for the amount of plants and positions were used in two separate rooms whose dimensions are identical. The concentration of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) was monitored three hours after the plants were placed and three days after the plants were placed. The variations of concentration of Benzene, Toluene, Etylbenzene, and Xylene (BTEX), as well as Formaldehyde, which are all known as the major elements of Volatile Organic Compounds were monitored. The amount of reduction in concentration of Toluene and Formaldehyde was monitored 3 hours and 3 days after the plants were placed in the space. The reduction in the concentration of Benzene, Toluene, Etylbenzene, Xylene, and Formaldehyde was significantly greater when plants were present. When plants were placed near a window, the reduction of concentration was greater. The more plants were used, the more a reduction of indoor air contaminants occurred. The effect of reducing the concentration of air contaminants increased when the amount of plants increased, and when the plants were placed in sunny area. The concentration of Toluene was reduced by 45.6 mg/m 3 when 10% of the model space was occupied by Aglaonema brevispathum.
Screening Indoor Plants for Volatile Organic Pollutant Removal Efficiency
Hortscience, 2009
Twenty-eight ornamental species commonly used for interior plantscapes were screened for their ability to remove five volatile indoor pollutants: aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene and toluene), aliphatic hydrocarbon (octane), halogenated hydrocarbon [trichloroethylene (TCE)], and terpene (a-pinene). Individual plants were placed in 10.5-L gas-tight glass jars and exposed to ' '10 ppm (31.9, 53.7, 37.7, 46.7, and 55.7 mgÁm -3 ) of benzene, TCE, toluene, octane, and a-pinene, respectively. Air samples (1.0 mL) within the glass containers were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy 3 and 6 h after exposure to the test pollutants to determine removal efficiency by monitoring the decline in concentration over 6 h within sealed glass containers. To determine removal by the plant, removal by other means (glass, plant pot, media) was subtracted. The removal efficiency, expressed on a leaf area basis for each volatile organic compound (VOC), varied with plant species. Of the 28 species tested, Hemigraphis alternata, Hedera helix, Hoya carnosa, and Asparagus densiflorus had the highest removal efficiencies for all pollutants; Tradescantia pallida displayed superior removal efficiency for four of the five VOCs (i.e., benzene, toluene, TCE, and a-pinene). The five species ranged in their removal efficiency from 26.08 to 44.04 mgÁm -3 Ám -2 Áh -1 of the total VOCs. Fittonia argyroneura effectively removed benzene, toluene, and TCE. Ficus benjamina effectively removed octane and a-pinene, whereas Polyscias fruticosa effectively removed octane. The variation in removal efficiency among species indicates that for maximum improvement of indoor air quality, multiple species are needed. The number and type of plants should be tailored to the type of VOCs present and their rates of emanation at each specific indoor location.
Native Ornamental Potted Plants for Sustainable Improvement of Indoor Air Quality
International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences, 2020
Ornamental potted plant are often proposed as a passive approach for improving indoor air quality (IAQ). Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) enter indoor environments through internal and external sources. Indoor air concentrations of VOCs vary greatly but are generally higher than outdoors. Plants have been promoted as indoor air purifiers for decades, but reports of their effectiveness differ. The aim of this study was to determine the selective of several potted indoor and outdoor species plants which can sustain and improve indoor air quality by using the native species plants. The experimental design was a complete randomised design experiment with four replications and it was conducted at the Horticulture Research Centre laboratory. Different native ornamental potted plants species such as Eugenia sp.; Scindapsus pictus; Schismatoglottis sp.; Tradescantia pallida; Piper porphyrophyllum; Alocasia reginula; Ledebouria socialis; Peperomia sp. and Ledebouria petiolata respectively had a different significant effects on absorption of the VOCs gases. The maximum and significant absorption of potted indoor plants species tested sequently was from Ledebouria socialis; Eugenia sp.; Piper porphyrophyllum; Peperomia sp.; Scindapsus pictus; Tradescantia pallida; Ledebouria petiolata; Alocasia reginula and Schismatoglottis sp. The leaf area, having moderate function of VOCs gas absorption did not drastically reduce the VOCs gas volume. Overall, the data from the laboratory studies illustrate the potential for indoor plants leaves to be used as air purifier and indoor air VOC samplers.
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2019
As society has become aware of health hazards related to the exposure to chemicals, major efforts have been made to address indoor air current problematic. Consequently, popularity of “green” cleaning products has upsurge. These products are formulated with essential-oils relying on their anti-bacterial properties to improve indoor air quality. Indeed, essential oils might contain a hundred of odorous molecules, mainly terpenes and terpenoids (TerVOCs) which acts as antibacterial agents. Nonetheless, do essential-oil-based products really contribute to indoor air quality improvement? This study is addressed to evaluate emissions from the use of essential-oils-based cleaning products by various scale experiments. Firstly, a correlation of liquid composition from 7 natural cleaning products with their emission potentials has been investigated. Volatile fractions are evaluated by using micro-chamber testing. A total of 28 terpenes are quantified among products in the liquid form. Never...