Like most new moms, I've felt my fair share of fear about SIDS. When A sleeps too long, I still tiptoe into his room and poke him to make sure he's okay.
One thing that helps me (and A) to breathe easy is a plant in his room. While all plants help to cleanse the air around us, some are more efficient than others. We spend a lot of time indoors, babies even more so, in places with poor air circulation. Our indoor spaces are full of pollutants, often the air we breathe inside is more polluted with chemicals than the air we breathe outdoors. A study by NASA found that certain plants more efficiently filter out toxins and create cleaner air for us to breathe. The ten most effective plants to remove pollutants such as formaldehyde, benzene, and carbon monoxide are:
- Bamboo palm (Chamaedorea seifritzii)
- Chinese evergreen (Aglanema modestmu)
- English ivy (Hedera helix)
- Gerbera daisy (Gerbera jamesonii)
- Janet Craig (Dracaena)
- Marginata (Dracaena marginata)
- Mass cane/corn plant (Dracaena massangeana)
- Mother-in-law's tongue (Sansevieria laurentii)
- Pot mum (Chrysanteium morifolium)
- Peace lily (Spathiphyllum "Mauna Loa")
A's the proud owner of a Janet Craig, and we all breathe the fresh air a little deeper in his room.
(Information obtained from Raising Baby Green by Dr. Alan Greene, M.D. (2007).)
