Question from Judith
Hi, Debra, I am a long-time reader and fan of your website and books; thank you for the great service you provide.
We have the following frustrating and worrisome situation.
We just moved my 18-year-old daughter into her college dorm and to our dismay, her building, as well as many others on campus, have been “renovated” with new carpeting, furniture, and mattress within the last year. We can smell the formaldehyde and other contaminants in the air of her room.
All her life, she has had health issues and severe food and environmental allergies which have led us to seek a toxin-free lifestyle. Right now, she is not reacting to the off-gassing, but we both know that it is very unhealthy for her to be exposed to these toxins in the long term.
It seems that moving to another building will probably not be a good option, especially as many other buildings have indoor air that is just as bad or worse.
Other than switching out her mattress with an older, safer one, I am not sure what else would help. I was thinking maybe air-cleaning green plants (but which ones)? Would a powerful air purifier filter gases? Any help or advice would be much appreciated!
Debra’s Answer
I haven’t used them because I have no carpets in my house!
I think in this particular case, the proper air filter would be the best solution. Plants do remove pollutants from the air, but you would need a lot of them to handle this level of pollution. See Debra’s List: Air Filters for air filters that can do the job.
Thanks very much, Debra, Anne, and Anonymous. We will do all three: open her window daily, buy a few of the plants recommended and a high powered air-filter, and see what happens. Every day is a fight against our toxic world, it seems!
I’m renting a newish house where all the “wood” flooring, molding and doors are glued composite materials. Lots of toxic odors. I keep one centrally located window open all the time about 4 inches. And every morning, and again before bed, we open 2 more windows all the way and put in some window fans…for about 15-60 min. This really freshens the air. I use an ozonator also and find it makes a huge positive difference; but ozonators are controversial.
I agree that an air filter would be your best choice as your primary action. Some filter out gases and some don’t, so check for that factor when choosing one. I would also say have her open the window daily, if that’s possible, and use a fan to help draw fresh air in and push air out, regardless of the temperature outside. The plant that supposedly is the best at removing formaldehyde is Boston Fern. However, before you decide whether to get one (in addition to an air filter, not instead of one), be aware that it’s a messy plant (drops ‘leaves’ even when not allowed to dry out) and needs watered at least every other day, daily if the air is very dry. Spider plants are also good for cleaning the air. They aren’t messy but need to be watered at least twice a week. Both are easy to grow except as mentioned. Pothos is lower on the list of plants that clean the air well, but it is very easy to grow and less sensitive to neglect. Can be watered just once a week. None of those three would tolerate full sun, but they could be placed away from the window if that’s the exposure of her room. Peace Lily is another that cleans the air. I’m sure you can find a longer list if you do a web-search.