Ashok Gupta
The literary meaning of breathe easy is when people or animals,take air into their lungs and let it out again in perfect pollution free atmosphere.
If the air you breathe is polluted as at presently in Delhi,Haryana and some parts of Punjab that is why schools are being closed,odd and even system for vehicles is being introduced,construction work is being stopped and many more measures are being taken to make people breathe easy. Do you know the air inside your work place can be actually worse than the air in the middle of the city or road as the pollutants gets in and they find it extremely difficult to get out.
Bacteria and viruses stick around the home or office leading to higher chances of illness, airborne dust levels can rise and office supplies and furnishings such as carpets,paints and printers can give off pollutants called volatile organic compounds (VOC’s). These pollutants can irritate your eyes and skin,worsen your asthma or make it hard for you to breathe. Some indoor plants can soak up these VOC’s,you can assume plant leaves as lungs,breathing in unclean area and releasing fresh clean oxygen.
In fact research conducted by NASA revealed that plants remove up to 87% of toxins in the air in just 24 hours. According to NASA’s clean air study, the snake plant (sensevaria) is so effective in producing oxygen that if you are locked in a sealed room with no air flow, you will be able to survive with 6 to 8 plants in it. The large leaves of snake plant also act as filters,helping to remove harmful unwanted toxins in the air such as formaldehyde,benzene and xylene.These are chemicals released by furniture,carpeting and paint,which we would otherwise inhale.Snake plants help in clean air,lower humidity and better quality sleep.
Areca Palm:-Like many indoor plants,it has the power and full ability to remove nasty toxins from the air and is rated as one of the best by the NASA at doing so.The Arica palm absorbs gasses through its leaves and roots which they then in return help in removing pollutants and in turn releasing oxygen. More oxygen in air results breathing easy.The Arica palm is top rated plant in increasing humidity which is a great relief for sufferers of cold or sinus problems and thus results in better night sleep.
Peace Lilly:- this plant has the unique superpower of holding the mould spores floating round about and absorb through leaves and uses them as food.The plant leaf increases humidity and helps in relieving from irritating dry noses and throat that can run rampant in busy workplaces.The other plants that also clean the air and are best suited for closed spaces and offices.
Bamboo palm:-Best indoor plant removes toxins like benzene trichloroethane and formaldehyde.
Pothos:- Removes from air toxins like xylene, toluene, benzene and carbon dioxide.
Chinese evergreen:-This plant helps in removing toxins like Benzene,carbon monoxide. Life without plants would be very difficult and unimaginable,they are the recycles of the air on the surface of the earth,without them many species and the organism would perish.Even humans will be threatened with survival in the absence of plants.Plants are part of ecosystem and our environment. In no way we can imagine survival on the earth possible without plants. NASA clean energy was a project by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in association with the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) in 1989. NASA has approved 29 best air purifying plants and almost all are available at Bonsai and Flowers Paradise Gandhinagar Jammu.
(The author is former Director Floriculture Jammu)
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