[Conspir8or]

Most plants will provide some oxygenation to a room, but they will also remove some airborne toxins like formaldehyde, toluene, and other volatile organic compounds. These are exuded from most modern furniture, rugs, and electronics, and in the winter can become concentrated past their usual levels b/c windows and doors are not opened as often. This may be making more of a difference for indoor air quality than the actual production of O2.

Plants rated best for this property are as follows:

* Dracaena (aka "corn" plant)
* Spathiphyllum (aka peace lily)
* Dieffenbachia (aka dumb cane)
* Ficus elastica (aka rubber tree)
* Chlorophytum (aka spider plant)
* Aglaeonema (aka Chinese evergreen)
* Philodenderon and pothos

You've probably seen most or all of these in lobbies or malls. You can get them in garden centers in varying sizes, or from Home Depot (though their plants tend to be crummy). All of these are tolerant of moderate neglect (i.e., they won't die if you take a long weekend away w/o watering them). Most of these can get fairly big if given good treatment, and you can take cuttings of many of them to make new plants.