case study was conducted to evaluate the quality of indoor air and the healthrelated parameters of indoor occupants

with the consideration of indoor-plant placement in the office buildings in Seoul, Korea from October, 2006 to July, 2007. The office buildings with more than seven floors were categorized into two groups. One group was composed of six newly-built buildings established in 2005 to 2006 and the other group was composed of six aged buildings established in 1990 to 1992. An office room on the 3rd floor was chosen as the place with indoor plants and on the 4th floor as the place without indoor plants. The quality of indoor air was estimated using the concentrations of air-borne fine particles including formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) benzene, toluene, ethylene, and xylene (BTEX). The physical condition of indoor occupants was evaluated based on certain health-related parameters such as the symptom degree of sick building syndrome (SBS) and the scale of symptom checklist (90) revised (SCL-90-R). The concentration of formaldehyde was decreased not by the individual application of ventilation or indoor-plant placement but by the combined application of the two factors as evidenced by reductions from 80.8 to 66.4 gm3 in the newly-built building and from 23.3 to 18.6 gm3 in the aged building. The concentrations of BTEX varied with indoor conditions. In office rooms with high concentrations of BTEX, these concentrations were obviously reduced by the individual application of ventilation but hardly reduced by the individual application of indoor-plant placement. The indoor occupants of the newly built buildings perceived little improvement in the symptom degree of SBS by the individual application of ventilation (changing from 19 to 15 points) or indoor-plant placement (changing from 26 to 25). In contrast, the indoor occupants of the aged buildings felt a good improvement in the symptom degree of SBS by the combined application of ventilation and indoor-plant placement, reducing from 23 to 14 points. Observing the mental health of indoor occupants using SCL-90-R, the various results did not show a clear tendency. It could be tentatively postulated that the individual application of ventilation or indoor-plant placement in the office room failed to make sufficient improvement in the mental health of indoor occupants. J. Japan. Soc. Hort. Sci. 80 (1): 96102. 2011. Available online at www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/jjshs1 JSHS 2011 Evaluation of Indoor Air Quality and Health Related Parameters in Office Buildings with or without Indoor Plants Ho-Hyun Kim1, Jae-Young Lee2, Ji-Yeon Yang1, Kwang-Jin Kim3, Yong-Jin Lee1, Dong-Chun Shin4 and Young-Wook Lim1*

1The Institute for Environmental Research, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-752, Korea 2Institute of Life Science and Resources, Kyung Hee University, Yongin 446701, Korea 3National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, Rural Development Administration, Suwon 441-440, Korea 4Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Korea KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY VOL. 6, No. II, NOVEMBER, 2010, pp 13-19 13 AMBIENT AIR QUALITY IN AN URBAN AREA AND ITS EFFECTS ON PLANTS AND HUMAN BEINGS: A CASE STUDY OF TIRUCHIRAPPALLI, INDIA Sirajuddin. M. Horaginamani*, M. Ravichandran Department of Environmental Management, School of Environmental Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli-24, Tamil Nadu *Corresponding author: ecosirajuddin@yahoo.com Received 03 December, 2009; Revised 12 April, 2010 ABSTRACT Though water and land pollution is very dangerous, air pollution has its own peculiarities, due to its trans boundary dispersion of pollutants over the entire world. In any well planned urban set up, industrial pollution takes a back seat and vehicular emissions take precedence as the major cause of urban air pollution. Air pollution is one of the serious problems faced by the people globally, especially in urban areas of developing countries like India. All these in turn lead to an increase in the air pollution levels and have adverse effects on the health of people and plants. Western countries have conducted several studies in this area, but there are only a few studies in developing countries like India. A study on ambient air quality in Tiruchirappalli urban area and its possible effects selected plants and human health has been undertaken, which may be helpful to bring out possible control measures.

PEOPLEPLANT INTERACTION The physiological, psychological and sociological effects of plants on people MARJOLEIN ELINGS Wageningen University and Research Centre, Plant Research International, P.O. Box 16, 6700 AA Wageningen,The Netherlands Abstract: This paper reports the results of a literature study into the effects of plants on human wellbeing. Different studies from various ountries show that there are many different settings in which humans interact with plants. Some of these settings have a therapeutic aim, others do not. This paper demonstrates that various target groups can benefit from working with plants. Little is known, however, about the mechanisms behind horticultural therapy while the evidence is weak due to the methodological limitations of the studies. Plant Physiol. (1 994) 104: 1301 -1 309 Detoxification of Formaldehyde by the Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum 1.) and by Soybean (C/ycine max 1.) Cell-Suspension Cultures' Martina Ciese, Ulrike Bauer-Doranth, Christian Langebartels, and Henrich Sandermann, Jr.* GSF-Forschungszentrum fr Umwelt und Gesundheit GmbH, lnstitut fr Biochemische lanzenpathologie, D-85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany The phytotoxicity of formaldehyde for spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum L.), tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv Bel B and Bel W3), and soybean (Glycine max L.) cell-suspension cultures was found to be low enough to allow metabolic studies. Spider plant shoots were exposed to 7.1 pL L-' (8.5 mg m-3) gaseous ["CIformaldehyde over 24 h. Approximately 88% of the recovered radioactivity was plant associated and was found to be incorporated into organic acids, amino acids, free sugars, and lipids as well as cell-wall components. Similar results were obtained upon feeding ["Clformaldehyde from aqueous solution to aseptic soybean cell-suspension cultures. Serine and phosphatidylcholine were identified as major metabolic products. Spider plant enzyme extracts contained two NAS+-dependent formaldehyde dehydrogenase activities with molecular mas values of about 129 and 79 kD. Only the latter enzyme activity required glutathione as an obligatory second cofactor. It had an apparent K,,, value of 30 p~ for formaldehyde and an isoelectric point at pH 5.4. Total cell-free dehydrogenase activity corresponded to 13 pg formaldehyde oxidized h-' g-' leaf fresh weight. Clutathione-dependent formaldehyde dehydrogenases were also isolated from shoots and leaves of Equisetum telmateia and from cell-suspension cultures of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and maize (Zea mays 1.). The results obtained are consistent with the

concept of indoor air decontamination with common room plants such as the spider plant. Formaldehyde appears to be efficiently detoxified by oxidation and subsequent C1 metabolism. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 3: 3643 ISSN: 1545-9624 print / 1545-9632 online Copyright _c 2006 JOEH, LLC DOI: 10.1080/15459620500455380 Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality Assessment of Four Wastewater Treatment Plants Joung Ae Lee,1 John C. Johnson,2 Stephen J. Reynolds,3 Peter S. Thorne,1 and Patrick T. OShaughnessy1 1Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 2Iowa Department of Public Health, Des Moines, Iowa 3Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado The study assessed the air quality of four wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by monitoring levels of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and endotoxin. Samples were taken over a 1- year period (20012002). The unit operations at each WWTP were categorized as: (a) grit removal, (b) primary clarification, (c) biological treatment, (d) secondary clarification, (e) sludge dewatering, and (f) digestion. Temperature and humidity were monitored simultaneously, whereas airborne H2S and endotoxin were monitored at each of the six unit operations in each plant. Carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD) and total incoming flow of the day of visit were also recorded. The geometric means of H2S concentration were less than 1 ppm and endotoxin ranged from 61247 EU/m3. A mixed model analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used for the statistical analysis. While temperature was not associated with the levels of both contaminants, humidity was influential on the level of H2S (p < 0.01) but not of endotoxin. CBOD did not affect the levels of either contaminant; however, incoming flows showed an association with the levels of H2S (p < 0.05). The concentrations of H2S in the six unit operations were statistically different, whereas endotoxin did not show any differences in concentrations between units. Individual comparisons proved that concentrations of H2S in the grit removal and sludge dewatering unit operations were statistically higher than the other operations. Overall, the concentrations of H2S varied depending on total incoming flow, humidity, and different unit operations. This trend was not observed for endotoxin. The results showed that the

factors analyzed affected concentrations of H2S and endotoxin differently. Therefore, different control methods for endotoxin and H2S need to be considered to effectively reduce their concentrations at WWTPs. Strategies to Improve Foliage Plant Acclimatization to Interior Landscape Authors :D. Scuderi; A. Li Rosi; S. Toscano; D. Romano Source :Acta Horticulturae No.: 881, November 2010 KeyWord(s):Ficus benjamina L.; Codiaeum variegatum (L) A. Juss.; foliage plants; leaf drop; gas exchange Abstract Interiorscaping has become an integral part of contemporary life and the role of plants as living air purifiers and reducing psychological stress associated with high population densities is becoming more relevant. Ornamental foliage plants are widely used in interiorscaping due to their adaptation to low light levels after appropriate acclimatization. For this reason these plants are usually produced under shade. With the aim of investigating the effect of shading levels and their duration on the quality and performance of weeping fig and garden croton in a simulated interior environment, plants were grown in pots for three months under 50, 70 and 90% shading. After this period, half of the plants belonging to 50 and 70% shading levels were transferred to 90% shade for two further months. At the end of cultivation plants were transferred to a characteristic interior environment (low light and RH) and kept there for eight weeks. Tested species showed different responses in relation to previous cultivation conditions. For both species, more shaded plants (70 and 90%), showed higher net photosynthesis than the other treatments. Nevertheless, weeping fig showed better adaptation to interior conditions if the plants were transferred to the highest shading level only during the last period of cultivation. On the contrary plants of garden croton grown under low light intensity during all or a part of the cycle had higher aesthetic characteristics values during indoor life. Screening Indoor Plants for Volatile Organic Pollutant Removal Efficiency Authors : Dong Sik Yang; Svoboda V. Pennisi; Ki-Cheol Son; Stanley J. Kays Author : Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602Address 7273 Source : HortScience Vol.: 44, No.: 5, August 2009 [Page 13771381] KeyWord(s): Volatile Organics;Indoor Plants;Pollutant Removal;Aromatic Hydrocarbons;Aliphatic Hydrocarbon

Abstract Twenty-eight ornamental species commonly used for interior plantscapes were screened for their ability to remove five volatile indoor pollutants: aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene and toluene), aliphatic hydrocarbon (octane), halogenated hydrocarbon [trichloroethylene (TCE)], and terpene (-pinene). Individual plants were placed in 10.5-L gas-tight glass jars and exposed to 10 ppm (31.9, 53.7, 37.7, 46.7, and 55.7 mgm3) of benzene, TCE, toluene, octane, and -pinene, respectively. Air samples (1.0 mL) within the glass containers were analyzed by gas chromatographymass spectroscopy 3 and 6 h after exposure to the test pollutants to determine removal efficiency by monitoring the decline in concentration over 6 h within sealed glass containers. To determine removal by the plant, removal by other means (glass, plant pot, media) was subtracted. The removal efficiency, expressed on a leaf area basis for each volatile organic compound (VOC), varied with plant species. Of the 28 species tested, Hemigraphis alternata, Hedera helix, Hoya carnosa, and Asparagus densiflorus had the highest removal efficiencies for all pollutants; Tradescantia pallida displayed superior removal efficiency for four of the five VOCs (i.e., benzene, toluene, TCE, and -pinene). The five species ranged in their removal efficiency from 26.08 to 44.04 gm3m2h1 of the total VOCs. Fittonia argyroneura effectively removed benzene, toluene, and TCE. Ficus benjamina effectively removed octane and -pinene, whereas Polyscias fruticosa effectively removed octane. The variation in removal efficiency among species indicates that for maximum improvement of indoor air quality, multiple species are needed. The number and type of plants should be tailored to the type of VOCs present and their rates of emanation at each specific indoor location. Efficacy of Indoor Plants for the Removal of Single and Mixed Volatile Organic Pollutants and Physiological Effects of the Volatiles on the Plants Reprint :kcson@konkuk.ac.kr Author E-mail Mung Hwa Yoo; Youn Jung Kwon; Ki-Cheol Son; Stanley J. Authors : Kays Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Source : Science Vol.: 131, No.: 4, July 2006 [Page 452-458] KeyWord(s) :Volatile Organics;Indoor Plants;Pollutants;Foliage Plants;Photosynthesis;Transpiration ABSTRACT. Foliage plants of Hedera helix L. (english ivy), Spathiphyllum wallisii Regal (peace lily), Syngonium podophyllum Schott. (nephthytis), and Cissus rhombifolia Vahl. (grape ivy) were evaluated for their ability to remove two indoor

volatile organic air pollutants, benzene and toluene. Removal was monitored when the aerial portion of plants was exposed singly to 1 LL 1 or to 0.5 LL 1 of each gas in a closed environment over 6-hour periods during the day and the night. Selected physiological processes were assessed before and immediately after treatment to determine the effect of the gases on the plants. The effectiveness of plants in the removal of air pollutant(s) varied with species, time of day, and whether the gases were present singly or as a mixture. When exposed to a single gas, S. wallisii, S. podophyllum, and H. helix displayed higher removal efficiencies (ngm 3 h 1 cm 2 leaf area) of either gas than C. rhombifolia during the day. The efficiency of removal changed when both gases were present; H. helix was substantially more effective in the removal of either benzene or toluene than the other species, with the removal of toluene more than double that of benzene. When exposed singly, the removal of both compounds was generally higher during the day than during the night for all species; however, when present simultaneously, H. helix removal efficiency during the night was similar to the day indicating that stomatal diffusion for english ivy was not a major factor. The results indicated an interaction between gases in uptake by the plant, the presence of different avenues for uptake, and the response of a single gas was not necessarily indicative of the response when other gases are present. Changes in the rates of photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and transpiration before and after exposure indicated that the volatiles adversely affected the plants and the effects were not consistent across species and gases. Deleterious effects of volatile pollutants on indoor plants may be critical in their efficacy in improving indoor air quality and warrant further study.

Development of Urban-type Plant Factory for Plant Production and Air Purification Authors : J.E. Son; J.S. Park; H. Lee Source : Acta Horticulturae No.: 578, June, 30 2002 KeyWord(s): air purification; CO2 utilization; NO2 concentration; urbantype plant factory Abstract The CO2 exchange between plant and human modules, absorption rate of NO 2, and growth of lettuce were examined in an urban-type plant factory (UPF). The UPF can produce plants by using surplus CO2 generated in urban areas and purify the indoor air by exchanging gas between human and plant modules. With 150 lettuce plants, the CO2 concentrations of plant module were 600~700 molmol -1 at

average leaf weight of 130 gplant -1 and 900~1100 molmol -1 at 75 gplant -1 for one and two persons' stay in the human module, respectively. When the air of 0.13, 0.30 and 0.45 molmol -1 NO2 in a human module was circulated on/off 10/20 min between the human and plant modules, NO2 decrement in the chamber during 10 min was 0.040, 0.109, and 0.149 molmol -1 , respectively. The lettuces grown at 0.45 molmol -1 NO2 during the experimental period showed no significant differences in growth factors such as leaf width, leaf length, leaf area and fresh weight, and in quality between the treated and control. The UPF was proved to accomplish the function of plant production and ambient purification at the same time. Effects of an Indoor Foliage Plant Intervention on Patient Well-being during a Residential Rehabilitation Program Authors : Ruth Kjrsti Raanaas; Grete Grindal Patil; Terry Hartig Author : Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Norwegian Address University of Life Sciences, Box 5003, N-1432 s, Norway Source : HortScience Vol.: 45, No.: 3, March 2010 [Page 387392] KeyWord(s): Foliage Plants;Rehabilitation Programs;Self-Report Measures;Mental Health;Subjective Well-Being Abstract Effects of an indoor plant intervention in a Norwegian rehabilitation center were assessed in a quasi-experiment. During a 2-year period, coronary and pulmonary patients (N = 282) completed self-report measures of health, subjective well-being, and emotion on arrival, after 2 weeks, and at the end of a 4-week program. The intervention involved the addition of indoor plants for the second year. On average, patient physical and mental health improved during the program, but the addition of plants did not increase the degree of improvement. Subjective well-being did, however, increase more in patients who went through their program after the addition of plants, although the effect was only apparent in the pulmonary patients. The patients reported more satisfaction with indoor plants and the interior generally after the intervention. Room for the intervention to affect outcomes may have been limited by the well-designed interior and the center's location in a scenic mountain area, but these favorable features of the context apparently did not negate the potential for indoor plants to contribute to patient well-being

A STUDY ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION MONITORING AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH IN THE CAPITAL IRON AND STEEL COMPANY, BEIJING, CHINA, USING NUCLEAR AND RELATED ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES Zhifang. CHAI1, Qinfang QIAN1, Xiangqian FENG1, Peiquan ZHANG1, Nianqing LIU1, Weiyu FENG1, Minxu KUANG2, Hongyu WANG2, Yongzheng ZHANG2 1 Laboratory of Nuclear Analytical Techniques and Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 2 General Hospital of the Capital Iron and Steel Company, Beijing, China Abstract The atmospheric pollution in some Chinese cities is becoming more and more serious with the industrial development and urbanization in the past decades. The airborne particulate concentration in Beijing, the Capital of China, far exceeds the allowable level set by the Chinese government and by the related international organizations. The main contribution source for the Beijing atmospheric particles is the Capital Iron and Steel Company that constitutes 55% of total airborne particulate in Beijing. In the framework of this Coordinated Research Project organized by IAEA, this company was selected as a target workplace. The instrumental neutron activation analysis, proton induced X ray emission analysis, synchronous radiation X ray fluorescence spectrometry and other related techniques were applied to determine the concentrations of some target elements, such as heavy metals and toxic elements, in environmental samples (including airborne particles, soil and plants) and human samples (including head hair, urine and blood) collected from workers and staff members at this company. In the meantime, a surrounding region and a clean region were selected as control. All the analytical results obtained during this CRP period are presented here with statistical treatment of human health survey. Some significant conclusions and suggestion to alleviate or control the pollution are also outlined as well.

REMOVAL OF BENZENE BY THE INDOOR PLANT/ SUBSTRATE MICROCOSM AND IMPLICATIONS FOR AIR QUALITY RALPH L. ORWELL, RONALD L. WOOD, JANE TARRAN, FRASER TORPY and MARGARET D. BURCHETT Plants and Environmental Quality Group, Faculty of Science, University of Technology, Sydney, Westbourne St, Gore Hill, NSW 2065, Australia

( author for correspondence, e-mail: Margaret.Burchett@uts.edu.au; Fax: 612-9514 4003, Tel: 61-2-9514 4062) Abstract. The quality of the indoor environment has become a major health consideration, since urban-dwellers spend 8090% of their time indoors, where air pollution can be several times higher than outdoors. Indoor potted-plants can remove air-borne contaminants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), over 300 of which have been identified in indoor air. In this study a comparison was made of rates of removal of benzene, as model VOC, by seven potted-plant species/varieties. In static test-chambers, high air-borne doses of benzene were removed within 24 h, once the response had been stimulated (induced) by an initial dose. Removal rates per pot ranged from 1227 ppm d1 (40 to 88 mg m3 d1) (2.5 to 5 times the Australian maximum allowable occupational level). Rates were maintained in light or dark, and rose about linearly with increased dose. Rate comparisons were also made on other plant parameters. Micro-organisms of the potting mix rhizosphere were shown to be the main agents of removal. These studies are the first demonstration of soil microbial VOC degradation from the gaseous phase.With some species the plant also made a measurable contribution to removal rates. The results are consistent with known, mutually supportive plant/soil-micro-organism interactions, and developments in microbially-based biofilter reactors for cleaning VOC-contaminated air. The findings demonstrate the capacity of the potted-plant microcosm to contribute to cleaner indoor air, and lay the foundation for the development of the plant/substrate system as a complementary biofiltration system.