We are in the middle of a heat wave in Southern California so it is definitely too hot to open the windows all day and allow our home air circulate (getting household toxins out of the house and fresh air in).  

So how do I make sure my indoor air is still free from toxins?

1. Try to open windows for a couple of minutes in the early morning or evening when it is not so hot.

2. Make sure to dust and vacuum regularly - since toxins, like flame retardants from electronics and furniture, like to make their way to household dust

3. I take care of my favorite alternate methods of air purification: plants!

Plants are amazing natural air purifiers- in fact NASA took a bunch of household plats  to space placed them in a test chamber, flooded the chamber with pollution and waited.... slowly but surely the plants purified the air.   

So if its good enough for NASA its good enough for our homes!

Some plants work better than others, though.  The top purifying plants?

1. Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata Bostoniensis) – the #1 plant in overall purifying performance. 

2. Areca palm (Chyrsalidocarpus lutescens) 

3. Lady palm (Rhapis excelsa) 

4. Bamboo palm (Chamaedorea seifrizii) 

5. Rubber plant (Ficus robusta) 

6. Dracaena Janet Craig (Dracaena deremensis) 

7. English Ivy (Hedera helix) 

8. Dwarf date palm (Phoenix roebelenii) 

9. Ficus alii (Ficus macleilandii alii) 

10. Peace lily (Spathiphyllum sp.) 

11. Corn plant (Dracaena fragrans Massangeana) 

12. Golden pothos (Epipremnum aureum) 

13. Kimberly queen fern (Nephrolepis obliterata) 

14. Florists mum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) 

15. Gerbera daisy (Gerbera jamesonii) 

16. Dracaena warneckei (Dracaena deremensis warneckei) 

17. Dragon tree (Dracaena marginata) 

18. Schefflera (Brassaia actinophylla) 

19. Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) 

20. Weeping fig (Ficus benjamina) 

Some things to consider before choosing your plant:

• While plants will not eliminate all indoor toxins, they work best against VOCs. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) include benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene are a specific and dangerous type of pollutant that are emitted as gases from hundreds of household products including furniture, cabinets, wall paper and decals, paint, home cleaners etc.

• Also, important to understand that if you have a large space the more plants you have the better. One lonely plant won't work as well as a handful! Ideally, have one plant for every one hundred square feet of enclosed living space.

• Some plants can be toxic to children and pets ( Snake plant, English Ivy, Golden Pothos, Red-Edged Draceana and Peace Lily) so if you have children or pets consider another plant!