Improvement of indoor air quality of selected workspaces using phytopurification techniques

Good indoor air quality improves productivity at the workplace and on the other hand, poor indoor air quality could lead to losses in productivity as a result of comfort problems, ill health, and sickness- absenteeism. The purpose of this study was to improve indoor air quality using phytopurification techniques by monitoring and comparing the Indoor Air Quality before and after the use of some indoor plants in the selected workspaces in Lead City University Area, Ibadan, Oyo State. Various parameters such as Temperature, Formaldehyde, Relative humidity(RH), Fine particulate matter (PM2.5), Total Volatile Organic Compounds(TVOC), Carbon monoxide, Carbon dioxide(CO2), and Air quality Index(AOI), were measured before and after indoor plant placement and the microbial quality (fungal and bacterial) were all determined. Temperature, formaldehyde, CO2, and PM2.5 level for the offices studied were relatively low and were within WHO acceptable range, yet there were noticeable variations inRH, TVOC, CO2, and AQI levels in some specific offices. The introduction of inoculated indoor air plant demonstrated high potential of mitigating the variations noticed before their administration. This supports indoor plants’ role in managing indoor air pollution. The study further concludes that a successful application of indoor plant can potentially contribute to sustainable indoor air pollution control. Recommendation from this study includes deployment of genetically characterized biological agents that contributed significantly to indoor pollution control in this study to workspaces for a more comfortable and conducive indoor environment for its occupants, promoting well-being and productivity.