Air-Purifying Plants That Will Help You Breathe Easier

If you’re like me, you spend most of your day indoors, which means you also spend most of your day breathing in the same recycled air all day. But just because you’re inside doesn’t mean that you’re safe from breathing in the pollutants and chemicals that have, unfortunately, become part of every breath you take (sorry, but it's true). Luckily, a solution to help filter out all that nastiness is already right in front of you in the form of the oft-forgotten and underappreciated houseplant.

Besides adding more oxygen and humidity to the air (which means you can breathe easier already), many species of plants can actually absorb toxins in the air like benzene, trichloroethylene, and formaldehyde—chemicals released by everyday products like plastics, nail-polish remover, paint, and cigarette smoke.

But don't just take my word for it. In the 1980s, scientists at NASA studied how plants could be used to counter the negative health effects of breathing in these chemicals—a phenomenon they dubbed "sick building syndrome"—and came to similar conclusions. Though the study looked at using a large amount of plants to filter air, Joyce Mast, Plant Mom at Bloomscape, says, "Anytime you have plants around, they’re absorbing carbon dioxide and giving us oxygen."

In addition to being your personal (and way less expensive) oxygen machine, plants have been shown to have numerous other health benefits, says Erin Marino, Director of Brand Marketing at The Sill. For her, one of the major bennies of owning plants is that they give you the perfect excuse to step away from screens for a little bit each day to take care of them. (And, let's be real, it’s pretty fair to argue that technology has been shown to have the occasional toxic effect.)

With all those reasons to fill your home with plants, check out these experts’ picks for the 10 best air-purifying plants that will help you breathe easier and brighten your mood, too.