Green Solutions: The Role of Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum) and Peace Lilies (Spathiphyllum wallisii) in Mitigating Indoor Formaldehyde

Environmental Engineering, Institute Technology of Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: ipung_fp@its.ac.id

Abstract

Formaldehyde is one type of pollutant that is often found in indoor air and can have negative impacts on human health. Therefore, a solution is needed to reduce formaldehyde compounds in the room. According to Indonesia’s Ministry of Health, the permissible indoor formaldehyde concentration is 0,1 ppm. This study aims to determine the remediation ability of spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum) and peace lilies (Spathiphyllum wallisii) to reduce indoor formaldehyde levels. In this study, formaldehyde measurements were conducted in office room using an Air Quality Detector. The types of plants used were spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum), peace lilies (Spathiphyllum wallisii), and a combination of both. Baseline measurements were taken without plants, followed by measurements after placing the plants. The collected data were analyzed using the One-Way ANOVA method. The results indicated that spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum) and peace lilies (Spathiphyllum wallisii) are capable reducing formaldehyde compounds in the room to below 0,1 ppm. Using a combination of both plants is more efficient than using just one type of plant. The average reduction in formaldehyde concentration within 24 hours, due to one pot of spider plants (Chlorophytum comosum) is 0,0071 mg/m3, while one pot of peace lilies (Spathiphyllum wallisii) is 0,0058 mg/m³.