In A First! Scotland Prohibits Use Of Anaesthetics After Study Reveals It To Be 2,500 Times More Harmful Than CO2

Scotland has become the first country in the world to ban the use of the anesthetic desflurane due to the harmful impact it has on the environment. The move came as a part of the National Health Service (NHS) England's net-zero strategy that examines the environmental impact of medicines and equipment and looks into switching toward a more environmentally friendly practice.

Global Warming Potential 2,500 Greater Than CO2

Anaesthetic gasses are usually used to keep people unconscious during surgery. Recently the health services data shed light on how these gasses make up about two to five per cent of the NHS's carbon footprint. Acknowledging this effectively, efforts have been undertaken to tackle these medical gasses contributing to greenhouse gas levels. Anaesthetic gasses, in particular, were pointed out to contribute to an increase in global warming with a global warming potential 2,500 times greater than carbon dioxide (CO2).

Hospitals across the United Kingdom have begun cutting down on the usage of this gas, and in the past few years, about 40 hospital trusts in England have stopped using desflurane. These efforts were led by clinicians who moved away from using desflurane to clinically appropriate and safer alternatives that have less impact on the environment. With Scotland's game-changing ban, NHS England is likely to introduce a similar ban on anesthetics, except in exceptional circumstances.

Moving Toward Banning It Across NHS Hospitals

According to a study by the US-based National Center for Biotechnology Information, inhaled anaesthetics used during administration of general anesthesia were responsible for 0.01 per cent to 0.10 per cent of total worldwide carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. Even an NHS analysis of desflurane use in 2020 suggested that banning it across the NHS hospitals would reduce harmful emissions equivalent to powering 11,000 homes each year.

A report by WION quoted Dr Kenneth Barker, an anaesthetist and clinical lead for Scotland's national green theatres programme, saying he had stopped using it after having understood the harmful effects on the environment. He had realised that the amount of desflurane used on a regular day's work resulted in emissions equivalent to him driving 670 miles a day. This nudged him to practice medicine in a safer way to the environment. While climate change and carbon emissions are widely discussed among medical circles, moves such as the ban on harmful desflurane gasses provide a small but significant solution to the problem.

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