According to estimation, people spend 80% - 90% of one day indoors in modern society. Recently, reports have shown that if we stay in closed buildings too long, we may have symptoms such as allergy, headache, problems of eyes, nose and throat, catching cold easily, dry and itching skin, sleepy, sickness, losing of concentration, getting tired easily, or being sensitive to odor, scent, and fragrance; which is the so-called ‘Sick Building Syndrome’ (SBS). Many researches show that besides physical and chemical methods, the best way to reduce the occurrence of SBS is to place plants indoors. This year, we aim to study major air pollutants of each room within a house with respect to different building types, and the ability of several plant species to reduce air pollutants. For apartments tested, intensive residence, and mansion cases, rooms with plants decorated had lower carbon-dioxide, particulate matter, and formaldehyde concentrations. Moreover, selected plant species were used to test their ability of reducing formaldehyde in a newly-decorated conference room, office, or house, results showed that formaldehyde concentrations were significantly lower after plants were placed. The study tested the ability of some common indoor plants including foliage plants, flowering potted plants, and ferns to reduce formaldehyde under different indoor light intensity conditions. We also collected domestic and foreign references to establish data base of recommended indoor plantation and decoration examples, these were already edited into House Plants Purify Indoor Air - Application and Management Manual. Three conferences on indoor plants improving air quality were held to strengthen citizens’ knowledge and application of the topic. A demonstrating garden was established within an office of EPA building as an example to exemplify indoor plants purify indoor air.

indoor plants, carbon-dioxide, formaldehyde