TEXTO:
What might your office or apartment have in
common with a NASA spaceship? Unfortunately the
answer may be poor air quality. Indoor air pollutants have
been ranked among the top five environmental risks to
[5] public health. Living and working in places rife with air
contaminants and lacking decent ventilation can cause
“Sick Building Syndrome”, which can cause headaches,
dizziness, nausea, and eye, ear, and nose
irritations.Given that people spend more than 90 percent
[10] of their time indoors, air quality matters. Furnishings,
upholstery, synthetic building materials, and cleaning
products in homes and offices can emit a variety of toxic
compounds, like formaldehyde. Indoor air pollution can
also be caused by pollen, bacteria, and molds, as
[15] outdoor air contaminants like car exhaust finds its way
into buildings. All of these are made worse in small
or poorly-ventilated spaces.
Lucky for us, NASA scientists have been working
to understand this problem and find solutions.The good
[20] news is that there’s an easy and affordable way to
combat the presence of the yucky stuff we may be
breathing in, and it comes right from the natural world:
Use houseplants to clean the air. Plants purify theair,
making them part of what NASA calls “nature’s life
[25] support system,” although plants in bloom may be
contributing their own compounds to the air.
So, how do houseplants clean the air? Plants
absorb some of the particulates from the air at the same
time that they take in carbon dioxide, which is then
[30] processed into oxygen through photosynthesis. But
that’s not all—microorganisms associated with the
plants are present in the potting soil, and these microbes
are also responsible for much of the cleaning effect.
Beyond air quality, plants just make people feel
[35] better. For example, hospital patients with plants in their
rooms were more positive and had lower blood pressure
and stress levels. Similarly, indoor plants may make
people smarter by allowing them to stay alert and
reducing mental fatigue.
JANOWIAK, Maria. Disponível em: greatist.com/connect/houseplantsthat-clean-air. Acesso em: 1 nov. 2018. Adaptado.
Considering language use in the text, it’s correct to say: