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Indoor green walls improve immune system of office workers

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Joanne Swann
doctor holding red stethoscope

A study by Finnish scientists shows that air-circulating indoor green walls can improve the immune system and overall health of office workers.

Conducted as part of the ADELE 2 (Immune Defence and Living Environment) project between Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) and two major Finnish universities, the study is the first of its kind linking exposure to living green walls with improved skin integrity and enhanced immunity against pathogens and allergens.

11 participants had their workspaces fitted with air-purifying green walls, while the 17 remaining participants formed a control group with no green wall exposure. After just 28 days, those working alongside air-circulating green walls experienced an increase in both the number and diversity of friendly bacteria on their skin, compared with workers in the control group. These beneficial bacteria help the skin fend off pathogens and inflammation. They also boost immune system responses, which indicates that being in spaces with green walls has a positive effect on health-supporting skin microbiota as well as the immune system.

Aki Soudunsaari, a health-related serial entrepreneur and co-founder at Naava, commented:

From an evolutionary and biological point of view, we are not meant to spend our lives inside concrete boxes – and that’s what most office spaces are like. Whether we humans know it or not, there’s an in-built need in us to be in the middle of nature. In Western societies – due to things like increased hygiene level and biodiversity loss – our natural exposure to environmental microbes has decreased. This is seen as one of the major reasons for the rise of autoimmune diseases and allergies.

Aki Soudunsaari, co-founder at Naava

Study subjects in the test group were exposed to green walls only at the office during their workdays. Skin and blood samples were collected three times from both experimental and control group participants to monitor the impact of the green walls.

Providing healthier workspaces with good ventilation has been a priority for companies after the pandemic. However, excessive sanitisation of spaces and surfaces can also have an adverse effect. Soudunsaari continues:

Science has told us that children should be in daily contact with microbes via dirt and soil to boost their immune systems – and it’s no different for adults. Isolating ourselves completely from positive microbes will only harm our health and well-being. Sanitisation serves an important function in disease prevention and employee safety, but most workspaces have gone overboard with sterilisation via chemicals.

Marja Roslund, Research Scientist at Luke, added:

The results indicate that we can support people’s health with relatively easy nature-based solutions. However, urban societies need, in addition to these types of solutions, broader societal changes to maintain and increase healthy and useful contact with nature.

Marja Roslund, Research Scientist at Luke

Joanne Swann, Content Manager, WorkWellPro
Editor at Workplace Wellbeing Professional | Website |  + posts

Joanne is the editor for Workplace Wellbeing Professional and has a keen interest in promoting the safety and wellbeing of the global workforce. After earning a bachelor's degree in English literature and media studies, she taught English in China and Vietnam for two years. Before joining Work Well Pro, Joanne worked as a marketing coordinator for luxury property, where her responsibilities included blog writing, photography, and video creation.

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