Impact of the respiration of ornamental flowers on the composition of the atmosphere in hospital wards

Rena Gale*, Rivka Redner-Carmi, Joseph Gale

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Ornamental flowers were sampled in hospital wards and their respiration rates measured. We calulated the maximum possible contribution of the flowers to the CO2 and O2 content of the ward air, during an eight hour night. Only 1.6% of the CO2 increment in the ward air during the night (estimated to increase under most unfavourable conditions from 0.03 to 0.37% v.v.) was estimated to result from the presence of the flowers. The depletion of oxygen due to the flowers was calculated to be likewise negligible. Actual measurements of CO2 in the ward air in the early hours of the morning showed CO2 concentrations below 0.1%. It is concluded that nightly removal of ornamental flowers is not justified by their effect on the composition of the ward atmosphere.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)255-259
Number of pages5
JournalInternational Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
Volume40
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1977

Keywords

  • Carbon-dioxide
  • Hospital environment
  • Ornamental flowers
  • Oxygen

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