512 PB 286 EFFECTS OF INTERIOR PLANTS ON RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND AIR-BORNE PARTICULATE MATTER IN INDOOR ENVIRONMENTS

Foliage plants were added to different environments, including an office and a computer lab. Relative humidity and air-borne particulate matter were monitored in the presence and absence of the plants. When the relative humidity was low, the addition of plants increased the relative humidity slightly, but significantly, over that when no plants were present. Particulate matter accumulation was not increased in the presence of plants. Some have hypothesized that the growing medium could be a source of increased particulates when plants are used indoors. Some of our experiments used self-watering containers, irrigated from below, resulting in very dusty conditions in the top of the container. If the growing medium could contribute to increases in particulate matter, we should have detected it in this study.