A lot of Vietnamese people, especially officer workers, have been putting flowerpots in their rooms or at the offices which they believe can help dispose of toxic gas.
The officers of the Truong Son Construction Company headquarter on Kim Ma Street in Hanoi have decided to reserve a large area in their office for the verdure after they read in a newspaper that plants can help eradicate toxic gas.
Every officer of the company brings the plants they like to the office and puts them on the desks. Flowerpots have been put next to their computers, while bigger plants have been put in the area, where there are photocopier, printer and other machines.
Nguyen Thi Hong, who lives at No. 92 of Le Trong Tan Street in Hanoi, also said she has many green plants inside her house, because the plants can absorb toxic gas and protect people from toxic substances.
However, Hong admitted that she does not have deep knowledge about the functions of every species of plants. Ornamental plants can be seen in every room of Hong’s house, including the ones that give an unpleasant smell. Since Hong believes that the plants are useful, she asked the other members of the family to have as much verdure as possible.
Bui Van Nang, MA, from the Environment Faculty of the Vietnam Agriculture and Forestry University, has also affirmed that plants not only can help beautify the houses, but also can help clean the atmosphere and make the house safe to people.
Nang also said that plants can absorb toxic gas and provide fresh air, depending on the size of the plants, the room temperature, and the air pollution level.
Plants can clean the atmosphere in two ways. The plants absorb polluted substances into leaves and then transfer to the root which then synthetizes the substances into the feed for the plants. Besides, they can act as a pump that absorbs dirty air into their roots.
However, scientists have warned that growing some species of plants would not settle the environment problems completely. They said people should put plants with reasonable density.
No scientific research work has been carried out about the reasonable density of plants in Vietnam. However, the US scientists believe that there should be 15-18 plants in a house with the area of 160 square meters. Especially, the microorganisms living on the tree roots can also help get rid of toxic elements.
According to Dr Tran Van Thuy from the Environment Faculty of the Hanoi University of Natural Sciences, plants have two mechanisms of photosynthesis and respiration. Plants absorb CO2, release oxygen in the daytime. Some species of plants are believed to absorb ozone, CO2 or formaldehyde.
However, Thuy emphasized that growing plants indoors is just a measure to help dispose of toxic elements. In fact, plants absorb toxic gas very slowly.
Thuy went on to say that ventilator systems should be installed at closed offices instead of relying on the indoor plants. The places could be the area for photocopiers, computers or polluted areas such as the parking ground.
“If you are in the high-risk areas and you wait the plants to absorb toxic elements for you, you may die before the plants can fulfill the task you assign them,” he said.
Thuy has advised people to select suitable plants to grow in suitable places and avoid the plants that can harm people. The indoor plants should be removed to the corridor in the evening.
