TY - JOUR
T1 - Effectiveness of indoor plants for passive removal of indoor ozone
AU - Abbass, Omed A.
AU - Sailor, David
AU - Gall, Elliott T.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Wentai Luo, and Tom Bennett of Portland State University for providing useful notes in the construction of the test rig. Omed Abbass acknowledges the support of a scholarship from the Higher Committee of Education Development in Iraq (HCED). This research was supported in part by Assistance Agreement No. 83575401 awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It has not been formally reviewed by EPA. The views expressed in this document are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Agency. EPA does not endorse any products or commercial services mentioned in this publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Authors
PY - 2017/7/1
Y1 - 2017/7/1
N2 - Indoor vegetation is often proposed as a passive approach for improving indoor air quality. While studies of outdoor environments indicate that vegetation can be an important sink of outdoor ozone, there is scant data in the literature concerning the dynamics of ozone uptake by indoor plants. This study determined ozone deposition velocities (vd) for five common indoor plants (Peace Lily, Ficus, Calathia, Dieffenbachia, Golden Pothos). The transient vd was calculated, using measured leaf areas for each plant, for exposures mimicking three diurnal cycles where ozone concentrations in chamber tests were elevated for 8 h followed by 16 h in the absence of ozone. Estimates of vd at the end of the first exposures ranged from 5.6 m h−1 for Golden Pothos to 0.9 m h−1 for Peace Lily. Values of vd were approximately 50% and 66% lower at the end of a second exposure and third exposure, respectively. Estimates of vd were also made for a range of photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) levels typically observed indoors. An increase in PAR from 0.6 to 41.2 μmol m−2 sec−1 resulted in increases in vd ranging from a factor of 1.7 (Diffenbachia) to 4.7 (Peace Lily). For deposition velocities measured in this study, the ozone removal effectiveness ranges from 0.9% to 9% for leaf surface area to room volume ratio of 0.06 m−1 (approximately one plant for every 1.8 m2 of floor area) when accounting for values of air exchange and background loss typical of a residential environment.
AB - Indoor vegetation is often proposed as a passive approach for improving indoor air quality. While studies of outdoor environments indicate that vegetation can be an important sink of outdoor ozone, there is scant data in the literature concerning the dynamics of ozone uptake by indoor plants. This study determined ozone deposition velocities (vd) for five common indoor plants (Peace Lily, Ficus, Calathia, Dieffenbachia, Golden Pothos). The transient vd was calculated, using measured leaf areas for each plant, for exposures mimicking three diurnal cycles where ozone concentrations in chamber tests were elevated for 8 h followed by 16 h in the absence of ozone. Estimates of vd at the end of the first exposures ranged from 5.6 m h−1 for Golden Pothos to 0.9 m h−1 for Peace Lily. Values of vd were approximately 50% and 66% lower at the end of a second exposure and third exposure, respectively. Estimates of vd were also made for a range of photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) levels typically observed indoors. An increase in PAR from 0.6 to 41.2 μmol m−2 sec−1 resulted in increases in vd ranging from a factor of 1.7 (Diffenbachia) to 4.7 (Peace Lily). For deposition velocities measured in this study, the ozone removal effectiveness ranges from 0.9% to 9% for leaf surface area to room volume ratio of 0.06 m−1 (approximately one plant for every 1.8 m2 of floor area) when accounting for values of air exchange and background loss typical of a residential environment.
KW - Indoor lighting
KW - Material balance
KW - Ozone deposition velocity
KW - Passive ozone removal
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85017521039&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85017521039&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.buildenv.2017.04.007
DO - 10.1016/j.buildenv.2017.04.007
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85017521039
SN - 0360-1323
VL - 119
SP - 62
EP - 70
JO - Building and Environment
JF - Building and Environment
ER -