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LONDON: Not only do they brighten up the office, indoor plants could save an employee’s life too, say researchers.

According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, harmful indoor pollutants represent a serious health problem that is responsible for more than 1.6 million deaths worldwide each year.

Now, a new study has revealed that ornamental plants could drastically reduce the levels of stress and ill health, and boost the performance levels at work because they soak up harmful indoor air pollution.

Lead researcher Stanley Kays of University of Georgia said some indoor plants have the ability to effectively remove harmful volatile organic compounds from the air and not only improve physical health, but also someone’s well-being.

In fact, the researchers have identified five “super ornamental plants’’ which every workplace should have to clean up indoor air — English ivy, waxy leaved plants and ferns. And, according to them, adding these plants to indoor spaces can reduce stress, increase performance at work and reduce the symptoms of ill health, leading British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported. — PTI

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