Potted plants and ventilation effectively remove pollutants from tobacco smoke

Abstract The air pollutants in tobacco smoke cause serious harm to human health. To study the influence of plants and ventilation on the concentrations of air pollutants in tobacco smoke, three different experimental chambers were established, including ventilated Form-1 with plants, closed Form-2 with plants and closed Form-3 without plants, to simulate different smoking environments. The concentrations of four pollutants produced by a lit cigarette were measured. The results showed that the concentrations of pollutants in the chambers with plants was the lowest. The concentration of CO2 in Form-1 decreased the most quickly. The times required for the concentrations of formaldehyde and particulate matter to decrease to standard values was 2.3 and 8.3 hours shorter in Form-1 than Form-2, respectively. However, the concentration of total volatile organic compounds in the three chambers was consistently above the standard value at 12 hours. The removal efficiency was stable after six hours in Form-1, and it may take longer than 12 hours to remove pollutants in Form-2. The removal efficiency of pollutants in Form-1 was consistently higher than that in Form-2 and Form-3, indicating that the removal was more effective when the chambers were ventilated. Among CO2, HCHO, TVOCs and PM, The removal efficiency of PM was the highest. It is recommended to increase the leaf area and guide the airflow to bring the pollutants into contact with the plants to improve the removal effect.