Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement
"... synthetic building materials, which are known to emit or "off-gas" various organic compounds, have been linked to numerous health complaints."
"Man himself should be considered another source of indoor air pollution, especially when living in a closed, poorly ventilated area. This becomes very apparent when a large number of people are present in a confined place such as an airplane for an extended period of time. All of these factors collectively contribute to a phenomenon called "sick building syndrome."
"One world health organization recently estimated that approximately 30 percent of all new or remodeled buildings have varying degrees of indoor air pollution. Problems of this type have been reported in the United States and Canada as well as in most other highly developed nations of the western world. Two major problems with indoor air pollution are the identification of the trace chemicals and their correlation with diseaselike symptoms. Energy-efficient buildings that are filled with modern furnishings and high-tech equipment off-gas hundreds of volatile organics which possibly interact with each other. Even at concentrations below present detection limits, some of these chemicals and reactive byproducts may adversely affect inhabitants of these buildings."
