Planting plants on your desk, be careful not to harm your health!

Many types of plants on the desk are used for decoration, entertainment, and are even said to have the effect of absorbing radiation from computers, but some plants are harmful to health.

Many people have the habit of keeping bonsai plants on their desks. Photo: Duyen Phan

Recently, green plants such as sedum, pothos, cactus, succulent, money tree, daffodil… are displayed by many people on their desks for decoration and relaxation.

There is no basis to say that plants absorb computer radiation.

Associate Professor - Doctor Nguyen Thi Bay, Traditional Medicine Clinic, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, said that when placing a suitable pot of plants on the desk, first of all, it has the effect of beautifying the space, cleaning the air, bringing a feeling of relaxation and comfort.

The green color refreshes the environment, soothing the eyes among the stacks of papers and the black and gray equipment of the office.

Furthermore, under sunlight, plants absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂) and release oxygen (O₂), and humans absorb O₂and emit CO₂, so planting trees helps regulate the air.

Doctor Bay recommends keeping green trees with many new shoots, avoiding trees with strange shapes, rough trunks, and thorns that increase the feeling of insecurity for people facing the tree.

According to Dr. Bay, electronic devices, lacquered, oil-painted, and waterproofed objects emit gases that are harmful to health such as xylene, trichloroethylene, etc.

Many articles in the media claim that some plants can absorb harmful radiation from computers, help neutralize acetone, formaldehyde, etc., but there is no scientific basis or research to prove this. Therefore, people sitting in the office should go outside for about 10 minutes every hour.

Dr. Bay said that some plants that have been researched and proven to be effective when placed in the office are the pothos, snake plant, and the coconut palm. These plants have the effect of eliminating dust in the air and converting CO₂city ​​O₂at night

Be careful of poisonous plants

Dr. Bay also warns that some types of plants are harmful and should not be grown in the office, such as cactus, daffodils, dieffenbachia, lilies, azaleas, taro, cactus, large-leaf taro, anthurium, hydrangeas, and arum lilies.

Many parts of these plants contain toxins that can cause nausea, diarrhea, vomiting... when eaten or cause burns and itching on the skin when in contact with the sap.

"Many people find daffodils beautiful so they often put them on windowsills, desks, and sometimes in bedrooms, not knowing that the plant's bulbs contain alkaloids that cause dizziness, nausea, diarrhea, tremors, coma, and can lead to death if eaten," Associate Professor Bay explained.

Master Phan Tien Tam, lecturer at the University of Architecture, Ho Chi Minh City, said that office plants must first be plants that can live in the dark, such as the money tree, silver tree, pothos, red king pothos, sedum, ivy, silver dollar, and peace lily.

There are some types of ornamental plants that can only be grown in the sun, such as spider plants, ferns, sunflowers, marble, hydrangeas, and hydrangeas. But even if they are shade-loving plants, they should still be brought outside at least once a week, for at least 2 hours each time.

In addition, planting trees depends on factors such as layout, leaf color, visibility, and harmony with the space. You should choose trees about 30-40cm tall.

According to TTO