Plants in the bedroom. Who is right?

[Feebeela]

Oh, wise MNers, Can you settle an argument for me? I have 4 plants in our bedroom; 2 snake plants, a small pot of dragon fingers and a spider plant. I love my houseplants and have 30 of them around the house. My mum said that I shouldn't have plants in the bedroom as "they suck the oxygen out of the air at night" I think this is an unscientific old wives tale as plants take in CO2 and exchange for oxygen. Do you have plants in your bedroom or do you think my mum is right and I will be slowly suffocated by my spider, snake and dragon finger plants??

Most houseplants are oxygenators and improve air quality, so god knows what your mum is on about.

They give off ozygen and take in carbon dioxide

Wasn't there recently a NASA study that you should have plants in the bedroom?

I don't have house plants anywhere because I manage to kill them all despite being quite green fingered in the garden.

But your mum is talking rubbish so I'd suggest finding some actual easy to read scientific articles on the internet.

Apparently NASA reckon spider plants are air cleaning champs as they remove nasties like formaldehyde from the air.

www.nwf.org/en/Magazines/National-Wildlife/1999/Spider-Plants-and-Clean-Air

I don't know the right answer but I know that Michael Caine is on your DM's side! He wrote in his autobiography that he had trees removed from inside his Hollywood home for precisely that reason.
I'm inclined to agree with you though, OP. I dont think it'll do you any harm.

Old Wives' tale.

Plants, unless you have a 'Day of the Triffids', or 'Little shop of Horrors' situation going on, will always enhance a room and no you won't suffocate.

Plants are a net oxygenator but it's correct that they use oxygen at night when they aren't photosynthesising

It's an old wives tale to explain types of death, from a time before we understand about lung conditions etc.

Like cats smother babies, who probably died of cot death/bronchiolitis etc.

I've heard this. I think it's true they take in oxygen at night.

I think it's true they take in oxygen at night.

That bit is indeed true, but unless you sleep in an airtight room with a small forest it will not make any meaningful difference.

Not all plants take in oxygen at night, the sansivieria give off oxygen at night for example so does the mini pinapple looking one, so actually improve your breathing/sleep.

I do recall that hospitals would remove patients' flowers at night although why I'm not sure. There did use to be something about taking in oxygen during the night, not sure how true.

A really old, old wives' tale (and an old blokes' tale) - on a par with thinking the night air was dangerous and carried diseases.

Plants absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) and give off oxygen. That's why there's so much global-warming concern about forests being cut down.

If your mum isn't convinced, I'd google something about photosynthesis, to explain to her how this so-fundamental process works.
It's not at all difficult to understand.

If you sleep in the same room as your partner, they will take in in order of magnitude more oxygen than a plant ever would.

I do recall that hospitals would remove patients' flowers at night although why I'm not sure. There did use to be something about taking in oxygen during the night, not sure how true.

The auxiliary nurses certainly did that on a maternity ward I was in years ago; it took them ages to remove them and ages to return them to the right bedside the next day.

Technically she is correct that plants, like animals, use oxygen for respiration day and night. They also produce oxygen as a waste product of photosynthesis but only during the day as they need light for photosynthesis. Therefore at night they will be using oxygen along with you so the oxygen levels in the room will decrease slightly but by a negligible amount. Overall, plants produce more oxygen than they use, they just don't do it at night.

If you are worried about sharing your oxygen at night, I would kick your DP out of the bedroom. He will be using a whole lot more oxygen that a few spider plants

We have loads of houseplants, including in the bedrooms, as they purify the air. I’m pretty sure the scientific consensus is that houseplants are a good thing for both air quality and general well-being. www.bioadvanced.com/articles/5-benefits-houseplants

Overnight, when it is dark, plants release carbon dioxide. Over a 24 hr period, they release more oxygen than carbon dioxide.

Fill your room with plants, they aren't going to make a noticeable difference compared to your oxygen use overnight.

There is no way that a few plants are going to rob all your oxygen at night. I have six plants in my bedroom

Honestly, more crackpot theories from Michael Caine. When will people stop listening to him? He is a blight on science.

Don't worry! Plants, like all living things, use oxygen to respire 24/7. In the daytime, they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen by photosynthesis, releasing more oxygen than they use.
Plants will use less oxygen than animals or people, so unless you're sleeping in a tiny, airtight room completely filled with plants, you'll be fine.

Old wives tales.

You would need a shit ton of plants for their to be any discernable difference.