The Gas Looks Greener on the Other Side: Using Novel Tech to Minimize Anesthesia Greenhouse Emissions

Volatile hydrofluorocarbon anesthetics (sevoflurane, isoflurane, and desflurane) and nitrous oxide are ubiquitous in perioperative anesthetic practice and are estimated to contribute between 0.01% to 0.1% of total global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (BMJ 2022 8;377:o1301; asamonitor.pub/40kSYby). When used in clinical practice, volatile anesthetics undergo minimal metabolism in the body; an estimated 95% or greater of nitrous oxide, sevoflurane, isoflurane, and desflurane are exhaled from the patient as waste anesthetic gases (WAGs). These WAGs are estimated to make up approximately 50% of perioperative GHG emissions, 5% of total hospital GHG emissions, and can account for 3% of national health care sector GHG emissions (BMJ 2022 8;377:o1301). While scavenging systems in ORs collect these WAGs to minimize occupational exposure, the collected medical waste gases remain chemically unaltered and are often subsequently vented into the atmosphere without further processing. Clinicians have an important role to play in mitigating...