Are you breathing 'good feng shui'?

The beautiful Peace Lily (Arum, or Madonna Lily too)

What is a healthy home? Is it somewhere that is neat and tidy, newly painted and cleaner than clean? Possibly not! Humans today have to deal with many inadvertent pollutants from synthetic materials used in building, and with the current housing boom still going, a lot of us are either living in new buildings or renovated houses.

Toxins from cement, carpets, paints, glues, particle board, laminate, cleaning fluids, preventative coatings (and the list goes on) will all be present in the atmosphere of our homes and possibly workplaces too. Our nose alerts us to a lot of these as ‘new product smell’, like the aroma of a new loungesuite, or floor covering. These hidden toxins can be responsible for a myriad of respiratory illnesses, headaches, nausea and skin conditions. In Feng Shui terms, these kinds of aromas and invisible toxins can be classed as Sha or Si energy. Sha means rushing or ‘loud’ energy, like overpowering smells. Si means low level, unhelpful, and unbeneficial energy, like synthetic materials and chemicals producing toxic vapours. This is very Si energy.

How can we remove these vapours and maintain clean air?

One option is to be aware of the kinds of products being used in the construction of your building, and making choices that will limit and reduce the amount of toxic chemicals. However, if you are like me and renting your home or business premises, you wouldn’t have this option available, so you have to try another approach.

Indoor plants can have a dramatic effect on the quality of our indoor air, and can also be used to help rid the atmosphere of various toxins that could be responsible for asthma, headaches, eye-irritation, respiratory problems, and sometime allergic reactions. In the 1980’s, NASA conducted experiments with ten particular plants and found that they were able to increase the quality of the air by putting these plants into confined spaces. The three most recognisable of these are:

The Peace Lily—removes alcohols, acetone, trichloroethylene, benzene and formaldehyde.
Dracaena—removes most pollutants, especially trichloroethylene.
Rubber Plant—removes most pollutants, including formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde is such a hidden toxin, and it can even be found in textiles for clothing. Commonly, it is found in particle board, paints, glues and carpets. Benzene is a known carcinogen, and is used in the production of solvents, dyes (carpets again!), plastics, and some synthetic rubbers. Trichloroethylene has been used in dry cleaning fluids, (may be in new curtains and carpets) and is commonly used as a ‘de-greaser’, yet also found in stationery products, art supplies and some fabricated metal products. (it was also used as an inhaled obstrectic analgesic!) Acetone is of course found in nail polishes in a household situation, and is also likely to be inhaled from paint fumes or residual vapours from new paint.

Once you have gone out and got a few indoor plants, be conscious of the kinds of ‘food’ you give them too. Only organic fertiliser and regular spells outside in the fresh air make good indoor plants!