Quick Take
A video on social media shows a woman claiming onions purify the air. She recommends cutting onions and placing them in the house to pull out toxins, bacteria, fungi, and viruses from the air. We fact-checked and found the claim to be False. Merely placing pieces of onion in the house won’t purify the air.
The Claim
A video on Instagram shows a woman recommending pieces of onions, when placed all over the house will pull out toxins, bacteria, fungi, and viruses from the air.
Fact Check
Can onions purify the air?
It does not seem so. Pieces of onions kept in the house will not purify the air. We searched for appropriate keywords on Google and found that the message is plaguing the Internet for ages. According to the official website of the National Onion Association, the claimed video is not scientifically proven. This website informs that the claimed video speaks about an old wisdom folk dating back as far as the 1500s.
Science does not prove pieces of onions purify the air or attract floating toxins to destroy them. Also, onions when cut and kept in the open release compounds that do not promote the growth of toxins. Relying on false claims can delay the needed treatment.
THIP MEDIA has previously fact-checked a similar claim on onions left cut turn poisonous to show that the National Onion Association has issued a letter to warn against false claims circulating online about cut onions.