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Researchers Genetically Modify Common Houseplant To Remove Air of Hazardous Compounds (genengnews.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News: Now, researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have genetically modified a common houseplant -- pothos ivy or devil's ivy -- to remove chloroform and benzene from the air around it. The modified plants express a mammalian protein, called 2E1, that transforms these compounds into molecules that the plants can then use to support their own growth. Small molecules like chloroform, which is present in small amounts in chlorinated water, or benzene, which is a component of gasoline, build up in our homes when we shower or boil water, or when we store cars or lawn mowers in attached garages. These compounds are too small to be captured by even HEPA air filters and exposure to each has been linked to cancer. Findings from the new study were published recently in Environmental Science & Technology.
There are quite a few houseplants that do indeed do this, but there is a bit caveat : they do it in tiny amounts. That is what gets left out of the various 'houseplants that clean the air' articles, they do not mention that you need huge numbers of them to get a measurable decrease in whatever it is they capture. So researchers that put together a plan that removes significant amounts AND only requires a small number of plants is pretty huge.