Can onions remove formaldehyde? Experts answer your questions

As people's awareness of health and safety continues to increase, indoor air quality issues are also receiving increasing attention. There are many ways to remove formaldehyde indoors. It is now becoming popular to use onions to remove formaldehyde. It is said that it can effectively control the excessive amount of formaldehyde in the room. So is it reliable to use onions to remove formaldehyde? What is its working principle?

1. Can onions remove formaldehyde?

Formaldehyde is a chemical product and cannot be simply dealt with by using natural plants such as tea leaves and onions. Although indoor ventilation can improve indoor air to a certain extent, we cannot expect it to completely eliminate indoor pollution. If the indoor harmful gases exceed the standard seriously, ventilation will be of no help.

2. Onion formaldehyde removal method

First peel the onion, cut it into shreds, then put it on a plate and put it in drawers, cabinets, and corners of the room (do not keep the onions in the cabinets, open the cabinets). After a few days, you will find that the onions have all turned black. This is the chemical reaction produced after the onions absorb formaldehyde. When the onion turns black, replace it with a fresh one. Repeat this process several times and the formaldehyde will be removed effectively.

3. The principle of onion removing formaldehyde

Onions, orange peels, and grapefruit peels are often used to remove decoration odors. The principle is that their molecules are larger than formaldehyde molecules, so they can "cover" the odor but are not true adsorption. Pineapple only reduces the smell of formaldehyde, while formaldehyde is still volatilizing. "While pineapple removes the smell of formaldehyde, it will also react with formaldehyde, which may cause other harm to the human body. The same is true for onions and tea leaves."

4. Other functions of onions

The wonderful uses of onions are not limited to the ones mentioned above. In daily life, onions can also be used to prevent and treat insomnia. Place chopped onions next to your pillow. The unique stimulating ingredients in onions will have the magical effect of calming your nerves and inducing sleep. Onions contain at least three natural anti-inflammatory chemicals that may help treat asthma. Because onions can inhibit the activity of histamine, which is a chemical that causes asthma allergy symptoms; according to German research, placing onions in the room can reduce the chance of asthma attacks by about half.