Many household items emit highly toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde, benzene and trichloroethylene, particularly when new. The judicious use of house plants can help.

Formaldehyde (commonly used in furniture, carpeting and mattresses) is absorbed by spider plants, golden pothos, bamboo palm, azalea, aloe vera and philodendra

Benzene (commonly used in paints, plastics, ink, oil, carpeting) is absorbed by English ivy, chrysanthemums and gerbera daisy

Trichloroethylene (commonly used in printing inks, paints, lacquers, varnishes and adhesives) is absorbed by peace lilies, warneckei and dracaena marginata

See also Plants hoover up stress and pollution in the section on Workplace Health

NASA researchers have discovered that certain tropical and flowering plants reduce air concentrations of the 'big bad three' - formaldehyde, benzene and trichloroethylene - by up to 90%.To give three examples, spider plants and Boston ferns have a taste for formaldehyde, peace lilies absorb trichoroethylene, and English ivy and chrysanthemums eat up benzene.

Plants literally 'hoover up' air pollutants, including cigarette smoke and possibly radon, while microbes around plant roots destroy harmful viruses, bacteria and chemicals.

The most common cause of domestic air pollution is formaldehyde, and the five top house plants at absorbing formaldehyde are Boston fern, florist's mum, gerbera daisy, dwarf date palm and Janet Craig.

Sceptics suggest that, when a 'plant hoover' reaches saturation point and dies, it will release all the chemicals it has absorbed back into the air. Not so, the plant transmits the chemicals it absorbs down to its roots, where they are released into the soil and broken down by soil bacteria. In fact, when a new house plant is introduced into a space, it takes time (usually around 24 hours) to reach maximum absorption capability as the bacteria in the soil adapt to the mixture of toxins being transmitted.