ATHENS, Ga., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Popular houseplants, known for reducing volatile organic compounds, also release them into the air, U.S. horticulturalists say.
Members of the American Society for Horticultural Science say it is already known plants remove VOCs -- gases or vapors emitted by solids and liquids that may have adverse short- and long-term health effects on humans and animals -- from indoor air.
However, the findings about houseplants also emitting VOCs need further study to determine any environmental health impacts, the researchers say.
The study, published in HortScience, found a total of 23 volatile compounds in Peace Lily, 16 in Areca Palm, 13 in Weeping Fig and 12 in Snake Plant. The researchers noted some of the VOCs were from pesticides applied to several species during the production phase and noted VOCs were being released not from the plants, but the micro-organisms living in the soil or media in which the plants grow.
"Although micro-organisms in the media have been shown to be important in the removal of volatile air pollutants, they also release volatiles into the atmosphere," study leader Stanley Kays of the University of Georgia in Athens says in a statement.
Eleven of the VOCs came from the plastic pots containing the plants, Kays said.
