Savannah: So, houseplants don't really clean your air. This myth likely comes from a 1980s NASA study, which found that certain plants *can* filter out volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. The definition of VOCs can be broad, but here it refers to a big class of airborne compounds released by things like furniture and paint. And someone might want to filter them out because there's mild evidence that VOCs could cause health problems in high amounts, but that research isn't really conclusive.

Either way, plants won't help you get rid of them. See, that NASA study only looked at small amounts of air in sealed containers, not open rooms with doors and windows. So unless you're in a space capsule right now, your plants are removing a negligible amount of VOCs.

For them to make a real difference, you'd need an indoor forest. But you know, hey, at least they look nice.

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