I had to face it. There are items in my home that I cannot financially afford to replace at this time. Purists would ask "How much is your health worth to you?" and I would concede their point. But, I live in a family. A very understanding family luckily. However, none of us really want to rip out all our kitchen and bathroom cabinets, rip paneling off walls, and then live in the result. (This process by the way would fill the air with formaldehyde and its dust would be everywhere.) At some point, I hope to reach that peak, where every item in my home is environmentally safe for me but I am a long way from there.
When looking through the gardening and home care books at a large bookstore, I noticed a book titled "How To Grow Fresh Air, Houseplants that Purify Your Home or Office" written by Dr. B.C. Wolverton, a Nasa research scientist. Knowing that despite my efforts to detoxify, my home still had a hefty amount of toxins, I bought the book. Since I have no financial interest in the book, I'm going to review it here in hopes it may help others.
It begins citing studies of information I already knew but found sobering reading again. Did you know that the EPA currently ranks indoor air pollution as one of the top five threats to public health? This quote "Modern scientific research shows that indoor environment may be as much as ten times more polluted than the outdoor environment." From the book reinforces my belief that I must do what I can to clean my own environment to get well.
It's filled with color pictures of the plants and each one is rated for its effectiveness in removing various pollutants. There is a handy chart that lists some of the household sources of chemical emissions, and the chemicals they exude. One of the things I hadn't even considered as a source of toxins was paper towels! They are listed as emitting formaldehyde, one of the substances I react to every time. Though not complete, this chart was informative.
There is also a chart showing each plants effectiveness against formaldehyde, the number one household pollutant, as well as zylene and toluene.
It then goes into a small discourse on how the plants remove the pollution, with just enough information to educate without putting you to sleep.
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