Just about every paper on the subject, and I mean literally all of them, are based on a 1989 NASA study and a follow up by the lead scientist.

探討這個主題的每一篇文獻，真的是所有文獻，都是奠基於 NASA 在 1989 年的研究和第一作者後續的研究。

The scientists collected plants and put them in chambers, then pumped in harmful chemicals like these.

科學家將各種植物放置在房間，並往裡面送入這些有害的化學物質。

(Ammonia, Trichloroethylene, Formaldehyde, Xylene, Benzene)

(氨、三氯乙烯、甲醛、二甲苯、苯)

After 24 hours, they tested the air quality in each chamber.

經過 24 小時候，他們測試了每一間房間內的空氣品質。

Some plants were able to remove up to 90% of the harmful chemicals.

有些植物能夠去除高達 90% 的有害物質。

So which plants were the most effective?

哪一種植物淨化空氣的效果最好呢？

NASA scientists tested familiar ones.

NASA 科學家測試了幾個相似的植物。

All the plants they have in their list are just very common house plants.

他們實驗清單上的植物都是很常見的室內植物。

This is Dr. Dennis Stevenson, Vice President for science at the New York Botanical Garden.

這位是 Dennis Stevenson，他是紐約植物園研究院的副院長。

I think they picked them because they were looking at things that people would have in their environments.

我想他們會選這些植物，是因為他們在思考人們會將哪些植物擺放在生活周遭。

As opposed to some exotic, weird tropical plant that nobody knows anything about.

而不是那些奇異的、古怪的、大家根本完全不認識的熱帶植物。

All of these plants are excellent at getting rid of harmful indoor carcinogens.

以下這些植物在清除室內致癌物質方面都有極佳的表現。

(Boston fern, gerbera daisy, peace lily, snake plant, Chinese evergreen)

(波士頓蕨、非洲菊、白鶴芋、虎尾蘭、萬年青)

(Carcinogen: an agent that can cause cancer in humans.)

(致癌物：會導致人體產生癌症的因子。)

Here's how it works:

它是這麼運作的：

Plants take in the harmful gasses out of the atmosphere and sequester them in their roots and cells.

植物吸收空氣中的有害氣體，並將它們隔離在自己的根部核細胞裡。

Some of these chemicals are broken down by fungi in the soil and others are stored in the plant.

有些化學物質會被土壤裡的菌類分解，剩下的則儲存在植物體內。

So what about things like...smoke, that might be in your apartment via cigarettes.

那比方說像是......煙呢？有可能是抽完菸之後留在公寓的。

Or you know...other types of smoke.

或......其他種煙。

Well I would say, they take up stuff in the atmosphere so theoretically they should take up any kind of smoke that's in your apartment in a certain sense, right.

我會說它們既然會吸收空氣中的物質，那理論上它們就應該會吸收你房間裡面所有的煙，對吧？

I don't really know.

我不是很確定。

But I think if one did those tests that probably one would find a positive correlation with that.

但如果有人做了這項實驗，那得到的結果很有可能是正相關的。

(Positive correlation between plants and removing smoke.)

(植物和去淨化煙有正相關。)

Of all of the plants NASA mentioned in its study, these three have the best surface area to chemical removal ratio.

NASA 在實驗中提到的所有植物之中，葉片表面積相同的情況下，可以去除最多化學物質的是這三種植物。

(gerbera daisy, English Ivy, snake plant)

(非洲菊、常春藤、虎尾蘭)

But keep in mind that a gerbera daisy will never get as big as a lady palm.

但別忘了非洲菊永遠不會長得比觀音棕竹還要大。

And the more plant you have, the more harmful chemicals that you can remove.

你擺放越多植物，就可以清除越多有害物質。

A big leaf plant is probably, potentially able to exchange more things with the air you know than something with little needle leaves.

大片葉子的植物跟小片葉子的針葉植物比起來，能夠跟空氣交換更多物質。

And for those lacking a green thumb?

那些不擅長種植物的人怎麼辦？

I'll tell you, the one in there that's probably the hardest to kill is the sansevieria, the mother in law's tongue.

我會說這之中最難種死的就是虎尾蘭，它又稱丈母娘的舌頭。

It scores high on removing chemicals and only needs low light.

它在清除化學物質方面表現優異，而且不需要太強烈的光照。

Hello everyone, if you'd like to learn more about the plants or the experiments done by NASA, check out the description below.

哈囉各位，如果你想了解更多這類的植物或 NASA 執行的這項實驗，到下方的資訊欄看看。

You'll find a more detailed account of which plants are mentioned at the beginning of the video.

影片開頭提到的植物，在裡面都可以找到更詳細的紀錄。

If you're looking to buy some of these plants or want to learn how to take care of them, don't forget to check out your local nursery.

如果你想買幾株這種植物或是想了解如何種植，可以去你附近的苗圃詢問。