Indoor formaldehyde removal by three species of Chlorophytum comosum under dynamic fumigation system: part 2—plant recovery

Spider plants ( Chlorophytum comosum ) are known to be among the most common easy mountable indoor plants capable of purifying indoor air by absorbing carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, xylene, and many other hazardous gases. In addition, these plants are non-toxic and safe for pets and children. This project is focused on the investigation of the spider plants’ capability of the formaldehyde purification under laboratory-controlled parameters of the indoor air environment. Two scenarios including employment of fresh plants as well as recovered ones damaged by 7-day exposure of formaldehyde were considered. A special attention was made to the investigation of physiological indexes of the plant leaves after damage, and whether the spider plant could be reused after its recovery. The physiological characteristics of the recovery period of potted Chlorophytum comosum immediately after 7 days of fumigation with formaldehyde were studied. Eight physiological indexes of leaves including chlorophyll, free protein, relative conductivity, MDA (malondialdehyde, lipid peroxidation), SOD (superoxide dismutase), POD (peroxidase), T-AOC (total antioxidant capacity), and stomata were selected to monitor plants’ recovery processes. The results of 30-day experimental runs showed that three species of spider plants were mostly recovered within 15 days. Repeated 7-day fumigation of plants, conducted to study their ability to effectively clean the air after regeneration, confirmed such ability; the efficiency at the first day was similar to the performance of the fresh plant. However, from the second day, the efficiency was dropped by 35–50% and remained at these levels for the rest of the exercise.