[HN Gopher] Unfortunately, Houseplants Don't Purify the Air
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       Unfortunately, Houseplants Don't Purify the Air
        
       Author : nradov
       Score  : 19 points
       Date   : 2025-06-11 21:28 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.goodhousekeeping.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.goodhousekeeping.com)
        
       | HocusLocus wrote:
       | Houseplants need our help. They are in need of emotional support
       | people and you should adopt one today and just love it, try not
       | to judge it.
       | 
       | Potted plants got a big rush from movies like Silent Running,
       | that a tightly woven biosphere could engage in complete symbiosis
       | with people, bunnies and Joan Baez.
       | 
       | Then as NASA gave plants the cold shoulder, the idea that plants
       | were collectively 'the lungs of the world' took hold completely
       | and gave them solace. House plants stood a little taller and
       | dreamed themselves into a crucial role in keeping their critter-
       | buddies alive, with help from their distant friends in the Amazon
       | through open doors and windows.
       | 
       | Then cruel scientists popped that dream bubble, and awarded the
       | 'lungs of the world' role to bluegreen algae in the oceans. The
       | plants who must struggle to put out every leaf were eclipsed by
       | little things that multiplied all day long.
       | 
       | So houseplants have become neurotic and anxious.
        
       | Imnimo wrote:
       | >Its results suggested that certain common indoor plants, like
       | pothos, ivy and ficus, may absorb carbon dioxide and release
       | oxygen through photosynthesis, and provide a natural way to
       | remove toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene,
       | formaldehyde and trichloroethylene from the air.
       | 
       | I don't understand why there's a "may" in front of "absorb carbon
       | dioxide and release oxygen through photosynthesis"
        
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       (page generated 2025-06-11 23:01 UTC)