OFFICES Some indoor plants pose health hazard

Plants that are dead or too wet release dangerous spores, an expert said.
TORONTO GLOBE AND MAIL
As if stressed-out employees didn't have enough to worry about, it now appears that the unkempt fern in the corner could be posing a health hazard to co-workers with asthma or compromised immune systems.
There is nothing wrong with having healthy, "professionally tended" plants around the office, said Carleton University chemistry professor David Miller, an internationally recognized expert on indoor-air quality.
It is the neglected plants -- those "compost heaps" on people's desks -- that Miller takes issue with.
"Wet and dead is bad," said Miller. And though the healthy majority of workers suffer no ill effects from breathing in fungal spores produced by decomposing plants, "part of our world is extra-sensitive."
Causes of problems
Chris White, manager of environmental health and safety at Carleton University, in Ottawa, said there is no move to ban plants from campus. Neglect, overwatering and spillage are common problems, White said.
In the course of investigating complaints about musty odors, he has moved filing cabinets and looked behind radiators to discover, "Oh my God, there's mold back here like you wouldn't believe."
Mold can irritate asthma, increase upper respiratory problems, cause headaches and affect concentration, Miller said.
Carleton has some beautiful foliage on campus, cared for by plant specialists, said White, who does not dispute the psychological benefits of having greenery at work.
"A well-maintained plant is a perfectly innocuous thing," Miller said in an article in Carleton Now, a university publication. "But if someone is not looking after them or has too many, this can cause a problem."
Weighing in on the issue are some plant-tending service providers, who are more than happy to agree with Miller's suggestion that organizations should call in the pros if they intend to keep workplace foliage.
Professional care
Randy Rosen, vice president of Plant Care in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, said his company supplies and cares for everything "from credenza plants, small plants that sit on desks, to 50-foot trees in shopping malls."
When the Plant Care crews make their rounds, any unhealthy-looking product is removed and replaced, he said.
"It's a service-based industry and training is big here. These are professionals, not just people with watering cans. There's knowledge and skill involved."
Rosen said 90 percent of Plant Care's business is currently in live foliage, with the minority of customers requesting artificial plants. An industry veteran, Rosen said he can tell which way the economy is going by the type of plants his customers order.
"Quite frankly, for me, live vs. artificial plants is kind of an economic bellwether ... when the economy is less strong, artificial plants are more popular because there is not the service fee in maintaining them."
And how is this year shaping up? Live plants are in. "It looks like it's stacking up to be a very good year," Rosen said.
In Calgary, Alberta, Greenery Office Interiors Ltd. is also doing a thriving business, president Joanne Young said.
Office plants boost morale, Young said. Cubicle-dwellers, in particular, appreciate greenery.