室內植物的神奇功能

Common indoor plants may prove to be a valuable weapon in the fight against rising levels of indoor air pollution. Those plants in your office or home are not only decorative, but NASA scientists are finding them to be surprisingly useful in absorbing potentially harmful gases and cleaning the air inside modern buildings. 普通室內盆栽植物可能是很有價值的武器，可以用來對付日益嚴重的室內空氣污染。那些擺放在你辦公室或家中的植物不僅是裝飾品，而且美國國家航空航天局發現，它們在吸收潛在有害氣體和淨化現代建築內的空氣方面還能起到令人驚異的作用。

NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) have announced the findings of a 2year study that suggest the common indoor plant may provide a natural way of helping combat "Sick Building Syndrome." 美國國家航空航天局和美國園林產業聯合會發佈了他們研究兩年後的發現：普通室內植物可能提供一種幫助防治 “大樓綜合症”的自然方式。

Research into the use of biological processes as a means of solving environmental problems, both on Earth and in space habitats, has been carried out for many years by Dr. Bill Wolverton, formerly a senior research scientist at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, Bay St. Louis, Miss. 比爾·沃爾弗頓博士同時在地球上和太空站裏，對使用生物方法作爲一種解決環境污染問題的手段，進行了多年的研究。沃爾弗頓博士先前是美國國家航空航天局位於密西西比州貝聖路易斯的約翰·斯坦尼斯航天中心的高級研究員。

Based on preliminary1 evaluations of the use of common indoor plants for indoor air purification and revitalization, ALCA joined NASA to fund a study using about a dozen popular varieties of ornamental plants to determine their effectiveness in removing several key pollutants associated with indoor air pollution. NASA research on indoor plants has found that living plants are so efficient at absorbing contaminants in the air that some will be launched into space as part of the biological life support system aboard future orbiting space stations. 基於對使用普通室內植物淨化室內空氣和再生新鮮空氣的初步評估，美國園林產業聯合會與美國國家航空航天局共同贊助了一項研究。該研究用約12種常見的觀賞植物，測定它們清除與室內空氣污染相關的幾種主要污染物的效力。 美國國家航空航天局的室內植物研究發現：活的植物吸收空氣中的污染物非常有效。一些植物將會被送上太空，作爲未來軌道空間站上生物生命保障系統的一部分。

While more research is needed, Wolverton says the study has shown that common indoor landscaping plants can remove certain pollutants from the indoor environment. "We feel that future results will provide an even stronger argument that common indoor landscaping plants can be a very effective part of a system used to provide pollution free homes and work places," he concludes. 雖然還需要進一步的研究，但是沃爾弗頓說：這項研究已經表明，普通室內觀賞植物能夠清除室內環境中的某些污染物。他的結論是：“我們認爲，未來的研究成果將會更有力地證明，普通室內觀賞植物可以作爲一個系統的一部分發揮效力，營造無污染的住所和工作場所。”"Plants take substances out of the air through the tiny openings in their leaves," Wolverton said. "But research in our laboratories has determined that plant leaves, roots and soil bacteria are all important in removing trace levels of toxic vapors1." “植物通過葉片上的小孔吸收空氣中的有害物質，” 沃爾弗頓說。“但是，我們的實驗室研究已得出結論：植物葉片、根部以及土壤細菌在清除微量有害氣體方面都起着非常重要的作用。”

"Combining nature with technology can increase the effectiveness of plants in removing air pollutants," he said. "A living air cleaner is created by combining activated carbon with a potted plant. The roots of the plant grow right in the carbon and slowly degrade the chemicals absorbed there," Wolverton explains. “把自然和技術結合起來能夠增強植物清除空氣污染物的效力，”他說。“把活性碳和盆栽植物結合在一起，一個活的空氣清潔器就誕生了。植物的根就長在活性碳中，在那兒慢慢地將吸收的化學物質降解，”沃爾弗頓解釋說。

NASA research has consistently shown that living, green and flowering plants can remove several toxic chemicals from the air in building interiors. You can use plants in your home or office to improve the quality of the air to make it a more pleasant place to live and work  where people feel better, perform better, and enjoy life more. 美國國家航空航天局的研究一再表明，活的、綠色以及開花的植物，能夠清除建築物內空氣中多種有害化學物質。你可以在家中或辦公室裏擺放植物，用它們來改善空氣質量，使這些地方成爲更舒適的生活與工作場所——人們在這兒感覺更好，辦事效率更高，更多地享受生活。