Dracaena, lily family, appears among the anti-pollution plants together with the ficus benjamina, philodendron and other plants used to fight the air pollution in houses and rooms. Doctor B. Wolverton, who worked for NASA, studied, in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the role of plants in transforming the primordial Earth's atmosphere in a hospitable place for life. He identified 50 plants that are particularly effective against toxic and polluting substances, among these the plants of Liliaceae family, such as precisely the dracaena, have been found to be particularly active. The name of this plant derives from the greek Drakaina, female dragon, for the fact that, from a species of dracaena, the dracaena draco, is extracted a resin used to obtain a dye called dragon's blood. The Dracaena, in all its variants, is very useful to remove formaldehyde, a carcinogenic substance widespread and used in the manufacture of synthetic resins, glues, solvents, disinfectants, cosmetics, textiles and particle boards, benzene, released from the cigarette smoke or combustion of chimneys, stoves, candles or incense but also contained in glues, new furnishings, printers and copiers, and trichlorethylene, which is contained in paints, dyes, lubricants, solvents. In particular, the dracaena massangeana is particularly effective against formaldehyde (able to absorb 70% of this substance), also acts against the benzene (absorbs 21.4% of it), while the dracaena dermensis warneckei and marginata are very useful against benzene (the level of absorption of the substance is 70%) and against formaldehyde (around 50%). All three species absorb a percentage of around 15% of trichlorethylene. This plant prefers bright environments but without direct light exposure, watering is regular during the summer months, less frequent in the winter months. Dracaena should be placed away from air currents and from sudden drastic temperature changes. Pay attention if you have dogs or cats at home, try to place this plant so that it is difficult for them to reach as it can be toxic if eaten.
Dracaena
April 09, 2017
Able to purify the environments and to absorb most of carcinogens and pollutants that can be found at home or office, such as formaldehyde, benzene and trichlorethylene
AUTHOR
She combines her passion for a natural lifestyle and her university studies, she has indeed a Master of Science degree in Physics and a PhD in Physics in the field of biophysics. Reading scientific articles, being updated with the latest scientific researches and testing new methods and recipes is since always her job that, we hope, has become useful to you.
You might also be interested in these natural remedies
Anti-pollution plants, the Dracaena Deremensis Warneckii or trunk of happiness
It was 1989 when a work commissioned by NASA was published that aroused a lot of interest, also because it focused on a problem that would become increasingly important over the years, air pollution in homes and offices....
Read more
INCI of cosmetics, you know what you are applying on skin Part 16, the microplastics
Cosmetics for the beauty of skin and hair often contain irritating and harmful substances, that’s what we are learning from the posts dedicated to the INCI of cosmetics, the label that, by law, must report all the substa...
Read more
