We came across a widely shared post on Facebook claiming that spider plants can purify large indoor spaces by absorbing up to 95% of airborne chemicals. According to the post, these plants help remove mould spores and chemicals like formaldehyde, purifying spaces up to 200 square feet within 24 hours.

Indoor air quality has become a key consideration for Singaporeans in recent years. The Household Expenditure Survey 2023, published in November 2024 by Singapore’s Department of Statistics, reports that 27% of all resident households in Singapore own at least one air purifier, up from 20% in 2018.

Singaporeans have become increasingly aware of the risks associated with poor air quality, especially in home environments. The haze episodes in 2019 and 2024 act as stark reminders of the importance of maintaining healthy air quality. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 heightened concerns about the spread of airborne diseases, reinforcing the need for cleaner air quality and sparking greater interest in air-purifying solutions.

Given this growing awareness, we examined whether spider plants truly offer significant benefits to indoor air quality.

What are spider plants?

Chlorophytum comosum, commonly known as the spider plant or spider ivy, is a hardy, fast-growing shrub with green linear leaves. These leaves arch backwards to form a fountain-like shape. One of its distinctive features is its ability to produce small plantlets, which grow along thin, trailing stems. These baby plants dangle downward, resembling spiders hanging from a thread, giving the plant its distinctive name.

 Spider plants are a popular choice for houseplants due to their low-maintenance nature and resilience. They thrive indoors, are resistant to pests, and can tolerate lower light conditions, making them ideal for homes and offices. Unlike more delicate plants, spider plants do not require frequent watering, and their ability to adapt to different environments makes them perfect for both beginners and experienced plant owners.

Origins behind the claim

The Facebook post links to a 2019 article about indoor air pollution, which claims that indoor air pollution levels can be five times higher than those outdoors. The article recommends keeping air-filtering plants such as areca palms, snake plants and gerbera daisies in homes to improve air quality. However, it does not specifically mention the spider plant.

The article is published on an online platform operated by a nutritional therapy practitioner focusing on health and wellness and sells consultation services for people to improve their health issues. While this may be valuable in the context of nutritional information, it raises questions about whether the site can be considered a reliable source on topics like air purification.

The article references a study by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that allegedly found that certain plants could purify indoor air by up to 90%. The study, published in 1989 and titled “Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement”, examined the abilities of common houseplants- including gerbera daisies, snake plants and spider plants – to remove chemicals such as formaldehyde and benzene from the air.

The study primarily focused on indoor air pollution in sealed environments, such as space stations, where limited ventilation can cause pollutants from synthetic materials, furnishings and other sources to accumulate to potentially harmful levels. Prolonged exposure to these pollutants posed health concerns, including headaches, asthma and long-term respiratory issues.

NASA, therefore, focused on common indoor pollutants—volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which readily evaporate into the air at room temperature. These included benzene, commonly used in the production of plastics and dyes, and formaldehyde, frequently found in household cleaning agents and building materials. To address these risks, NASA explored natural air-purification methods, such as houseplants, as a potential way to remove harmful chemicals without relying solely on mechanical filtration systems.

Results of the study

NASA’s study found that spider plants could remove significant amounts of formaldehyde from the air. However, the study did not conclude that spider plants could remove 95% of all airborne chemicals, including mould spores, which were not tested.

Additionally, the experiment was conducted in sealed chambers over 24 hours with only one VOC introduced at a time, meaning the results do not directly translate to open, ventilated indoor spaces like homes and offices, which are larger and where air circulation plays a crucial role in air quality.

Following NASA’s research, other scientists have also studied whether houseplants can significantly reduce indoor air pollution. A 2019 meta-analysis reviewing decades of research concluded that potted plants do not effectively improve indoor air quality. This is because achieving meaningful air purification would require 10–1,000 plants per square meter of floor space, which is impractical in most homes and offices.

According to the American Lung Association, few studies have examined the impact of plants on air quality in real-world settings. Existing studies have faced challenges such as inaccurate measuring equipment and failure to account for air exchange rates. This makes it difficult to determine whether nominal reductions in VOCs are due to plants or simply the natural air exchange in a given space.

While research does indicate that indoor air can be up to five times more polluted than outdoor air, the best way to improve air quality is through a combination of measures—such as increasing ventilation, using air purifiers, and properly maintaining ventilation and air conditioning systems —rather than relying on plants alone.

Therefore, the claim that spider plants can remove 95% of pollutants from the air and purify large areas within 24 hours is an overgeneralisation of NASA’s findings and does not hold true in everyday-life situations.

We previously debunked a similar claim that used the same NASA study to assert that snake plants could produce enough oxygen to sustain human life in a sealed room and that they are “NASA-approved” air-purifying houseplants capable of filtering toxic particles from the air. Over the years, we have found that such claims, leveraging NASA’s name as a selling point, have repeatedly emerged.

While these claims, which appear to be backed by a study and a reputable name, may seem enticing and automatically believable, it is important to dig a little deeper to understand the nuances and the actual research behind them.