title: Phytoremediation of particulate matter from indoor air byChlorophytum comosumL. plants.
abstract: Higher plants, including spider plants, are able to take up and degrade/detoxify various pollutants in the air. Although nearly 120 plant species have been tested for indoor air phytoremediation, to the best of the authors' knowledge, data on particulate matter (PM) phytoremediation from indoor air are not yet available in literature. This work determined the ability of spider plants to take up PM, one of the most harmful pollutants to man, in the indoor air of five rooms housing different activities (a dental clinic, a perfume-bottling room, a suburban house, an apartment and an office). It was found that spider plants accumulate PM of both categories (water washable and trapped in waxes) and in all three size fractions determined and that the amount differed depending on the type of activity taking place in the particular rooms ranging from 13.62 to 19.79 μg/cm2. The amount of wax deposited on the leaves of plants grown in these rooms also differed (34.46-72.97 μg/cm2). The results of this study also demonstrated that the amount of PM accumulated on aluminium plates was always significantly lower than that accumulated on the plants' leaves, showing that more than simply gravity forces are involved in PM accumulation on leaf blades.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Basic Research in Horticulture, Faculty of Horticulture, Biotechnology and Landscape Architecture, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 159 Nowoursynowska Str., 02-776 Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gawrońska
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Genetics Breeding and Biotechnology, Faculty of Horticulture, Biotechnology and Landscape Architecture, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 159 Nowoursynowska Str., 02-776 Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bakera
keywords: Indoor air; PM accumulation; PM categories; Size fraction; Spider plant; Waxes