NASA Air-Purifying Plants: What the Clean Air Study Found

Indoor plants can bring color, life, and a connection to nature into our homes and workplaces. But can houseplants actually help clean indoor air?

That question has generated interest for decades, largely because of a well-known study conducted by NASA in the late 1980s.

Known as the NASA Clean Air Study, the research examined how certain plants interacted with airborne organic chemicals in controlled, sealed environments. The study has since inspired countless lists of “NASA air-purifying plants.”

Here’s what NASA actually studied, what the research found, and the indoor plants included in that research.

What Was the NASA Clean Air Study?

NASA researchers were interested in ways to improve air quality in tightly sealed environments.

As buildings became increasingly energy efficient, reduced outdoor air exchange also raised concerns about pollutants accumulating indoors. Researchers were particularly interested in chemicals that could be released from synthetic materials and other indoor sources.

The research examined whether plants and their associated root-zone microorganisms could help remove certain airborne organic chemicals.

Among the chemicals evaluated were:

• Benzene
• Formaldehyde
• Trichloroethylene

Plants were placed in sealed experimental chambers, specific chemicals were introduced, and researchers measured changes in chemical concentrations.

The results demonstrated that certain plants could remove varying amounts of these chemicals under the study's controlled conditions.

Do NASA Air-Purifying Plants Really Clean the Air in Your Home?

This is where an important distinction needs to be made.

NASA's research was conducted in small, sealed experimental chambers, not typical homes, schools or offices.

The study demonstrated that plants can interact with and remove certain airborne compounds under controlled conditions. However, the results should not be interpreted to mean that placing a few houseplants around your home will replace ventilation, filtration or other methods of managing indoor air quality.

That doesn't diminish the original research. It simply puts the findings into the proper context.

And it makes NASA's study an interesting look at the relationship between plants, microorganisms and the environments in which we live.

English Ivy (hedera helix)

 Devil’s Ivy, Pothos plant (epipremnum aureum)

Peace Lily (spathiphyllum ‘mauna loa’)

Chinese Evergreen (aglaonema modestum)

Bamboo Palm (chamaedorea seifrizii)

 Variegated Sanseviera ‘snake plant,’ (dracaena trifasciata ‘laurentii’)

Heartleaf Philodendron (philodendron cordatum)

Selloum Philodendron, Lacy Tree Philodendron (philodendron bipinnatifidum)

Elephant Ear Philodendron (philodendron domesticum)

 Red-Edged Dracaena, Marginata (dracaena marginata)

Cornstalk Dracaena (dracaena fragrans ‘massangeana’)

 Weeping Fig (ficus benjamina)

Barberton Daisy, Gerbera Daisy (gerbera jamesonii)

Florist’s Chrysanthemum, (chrysanthemum morifolium)

Aloe Vera (aloe vera)

Janet craig (dracaena deremensis)

warneckii (dracaena deremensis)

 banana (musa oriana)