School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, Australia.
Plants and Environmental Quality Research Group, School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, Australia.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2019 May;26(13):12851-12858. doi: 10.1007/s11356-019-04719-9. Epub 2019 Mar 19.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are of public concern due to their adverse health effects. Botanical air filtration is a promising technology for reducing indoor air contaminants, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. This study assessed active botanical biofilters for their single-pass removal efficiency (SPRE) for benzene, ethyl acetate and ambient total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), at concentrations of in situ relevance. Biofilters containing four plant species (Chlorophytum orchidastrum, Nematanthus glabra, Nephrolepis cordifolia 'duffii' and Schefflera arboricola) were compared to discern whether plant selection influenced VOC SPRE. Amongst all tested plant species, benzene SPREs were between 45.54 and 59.50%, with N. glabra the most efficient. The botanical biofilters removed 32.36-91.19% of ethyl acetate, with C. orchidastrum and S. arboricola recording significantly higher ethyl acetate SPREs than N. glabra and N. cordifolia. These findings thus indicate that plant type influences botanical biofilter VOC removal. It is proposed that ethyl acetate SPREs were dependent on hydrophilic adsorbent sites, with increasing root surface area, root diameter and root mass all associated with increasing ethyl acetate SPRE. The high benzene SPRE of N. glabra is likely due to the high wax content in its leaf cuticles. The SPREs for the relatively low levels of ambient TVOCs were consistent amongst plant species, providing no evidence to suggest that in situ TVOC removal is influenced by plant choice. Nonetheless, as inter-species differences do exist for some VOCs, botanical biofilters using a mixture of plants is proposed.
挥发性有机化合物（VOCs）因其对健康的不利影响而引起公众关注。植物空气过滤是一种很有前途的减少室内空气污染物的技术，但其中的作用机制尚不完全清楚。本研究评估了活性植物生物过滤器对苯、乙酸乙酯和环境总挥发性有机化合物（TVOCs）的单次通过去除效率（SPRE），浓度与现场相关。比较了含有四种植物（Chlorophytum orchidastrum、Nematanthus glabra、Nephrolepis cordifolia 'duffii'和Schefflera arboricola）的生物过滤器，以了解植物选择是否影响 VOC SPRE。在所有测试的植物物种中，苯的 SPRE 介于 45.54%至 59.50%之间，其中 N. glabra 的效率最高。植物生物过滤器去除了 32.36%-91.19%的乙酸乙酯，C. orchidastrum 和 S. arboricola 的乙酸乙酯 SPRE 明显高于 N. glabra 和 N. cordifolia。这些发现表明植物类型影响植物生物过滤器对 VOC 的去除。据推测，乙酸乙酯的 SPRE 取决于亲水性吸附位点，增加根表面积、根直径和根质量都与乙酸乙酯 SPRE 的增加有关。N. glabra 具有较高的苯 SPRE，可能是由于其叶片角质层中含有较高的蜡含量。环境 TVOC 水平较低时，各物种的 SPRE 一致，这表明植物选择不会影响现场 TVOC 的去除。尽管如此，由于某些 VOC 存在种间差异，建议使用植物混合物的植物生物过滤器。
