NASA’s list of Top 10 air purifying plants

A Clean Air Study published by NASA in 1989 (yes as long ago as that!) remains one of the most popular sources of information on air purifying plants. So we dug it out, and have compiled a list of plants you may want to consider using within your homes. All of these plants (some exotic some not so), are available in India, and can be found at major nurseries online and offline.

The study compared the effectiveness of these plants in combating the five main air pollutants found within homes – Benzene, Formaldehyde, Trichloroethylene, Xylene and Ammonia (you can read the dogreen.in primer on indoor air pollutants).

The following plants help battle at least three out of these five pollutants, and hence made our shortlist of 10. To read the full list of plants and how they score, read the NASA study here.

Two plants scored 5/5 (combat all five pollutants) and emerged at the top of this list. Three of them scored 4/5 and the remaining 5 scored 3/5. So go ahead and get some or all of these in your homes. Do look up how you need to care for these plants though. While most are hardy, some are exotic in nature, and may need some special care.

Peace Lily – 5 / 5

Photo credit: Olin Gilbert via Foter.com : CC BY

Chrysanthemums – 5/5 

Photo credit: Denis Bourez via Foter.com : CC BY

English Ivy – 4 / 5

Photo credit: Mollivan Jon via Foter.com : CC BY-NC

Red Edged Dracaena – 4 / 5

Photo credit: Starr Environmental via Foter.com : CC BY

Variegated Snake Plant – 4 / 5

Barberton Daisy (Commonly known as Gerberas) – 3 / 5

(this one came as a surprise!)

Photo credit: Swami Stream via Foter.com : CC BY

Devil’s Ivy / Money Plant – 3 / 5

Photo-credit-石川-Shihchuan-via-Foter.com-CC-BY-SA

Flamingo Lily / Anthurium – 3 / 5

Photo credit: yoel_tw via Foter.com : CC BY-NC-ND

Broadleaf Lady Palm – 3 / 5

The last one on our list is Corn Stalk Dracaena (3 / 5) but we haven’t included a picture here because we couldn’t find a retailer for this. If you know of some place where one can buy this plant, and we’ll add it here too!

Also Read: Chemical Free Gardening