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Greener is healthier
By Anne Sarzin

PROFESSOR MARGARET BURCHETT AND RON WOOD IN THEIR GORE HILL LABORATORY

If you work in a basement "dungeon" or a window-tight office and endure headaches, nausea and dizziness -symptoms associated with toxic chemical compounds in indoor air- your local nursery has the solution.

UTS researchers have investigated the capacity of commonly used indoor potted-plant species to reduce air-borne toxicity in basement and other "airless" areas, and have found that the pot plants can reduce air toxics by as much as 20 per cent.

Parallel studies in Europe have also shown that pot plants in the office environment can decrease sick leave by as much as 60 per cent.

Adjunct Professor Margaret Burchett and professional horticulturalist Ron Wood, in collaboration with their colleagues Dr Ralph Orwell, Dr Jane Tarran and Dr Fraser Torpy in the Faculty of Science' Plants and Environmental Quality Group, presented their research findings at the International Symposium on Plant-People Relationships held recently in the Netherlands.

In what Professor Burchett terms a "dungeon" (basement) or window-tight situation, there is a toxic mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found in indoor air. Although these compounds are present indoors in low individual concentrations, they are capable of producing toxic symptoms in humans - and the cocktail can be addictive, or even synergistic in its effects.

New paint, carpets, furniture and fittings radiate these VOCs, and Professor Burchett and her colleagues caution that "if you smell that new office smell, you are scenting the toxic VOCs".

Dominant VOC toxicity symptoms are sore eyes, nose and throat; a feeling of dizziness; loss of concentration; headaches; mild nausea; faint disorientation; and mildly depersonalised feelings. These are the same symptoms present in "sick building syndrome" or "building-related illness".

Professor Burchett's research group has shown that a mixture of plant species - including the Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily), Howea forsteriana (Kentia Palm), Dracaena marginata (Marginata) and Dracaena deremensis (Janet Craig), and Epipremnum aureum (Devil's Ivy) - can achieve a complete removal of VOCs in 24 hours in a closed chamber with no ventilation, and a 10 to 20 per cent reduction in flow-through conditions.

These removal rates rise with increasing VOC concentrations, which have been tested from five to 1000 parts per million in the case of benzine (where the occupational maximum indoor concentration in Australia is five ppm, averaged over an eight-hour day).

Professor Burchett emphasises that one does not need a "rain forest" to detoxify basement or sealed office areas, and states that plants strategically placed in the workplace can achieve significant results.

Several large, shoulder-high plants from the recommended species could be placed on the floor, and smaller plants could be sited near computers and on desk surfaces.

In a British experiment, scientists claim that rats died after being released into small tanks with edge-to-edge new carpets. And in a study conducted for the housing department in the United Kingdom, it was found that pot plants reduced by one third the build-up of nitrogen oxides in houses with gas fires and stoves, which produce these compounds.

A recent Swedish study to improve the indoor environment in an x-ray unit situated in a hospital "dungeon", demonstrated conclusively that pot plants not only achieved a substantial reduction in total VOCs in the indoor air but also reduced worker absenteeism by 60 per cent.

According to Professor Burchett, UTS research has confirmed the potential of potted plants as a portable, mass-marketable, integrated biofiltration system to improve indoor air quality.

"Urban dwellers often spend more than 80 per cent of their time indoors, so indoor air quality is a major health consideration. Potted plants will be increasingly used as a flexible indoor biofiltration system, as well as for beautifying indoor spaces."

The World Health Organisation report, The Right to Healthy Indoor Air, published in 2000, highlights increasing recognition of a legal obligation on the part of owners and managers to supply healthy air for the occupants, and consequently the trend to using customised plant boxes as part of that solution has already commenced in some countries.