Scotland first to ban environmentally harmful anaesthetic

By Smitha Mundasad | BBC | March 3, 2023

Read the full article by Smitha Mundasad (BBC)

"NHS data suggests the gas, used to keep people unconscious during surgery, has a global warming potential 2,500 times greater than carbon dioxide.

Banning it in Scotland - from its peak use in 2017 - would cut emissions equal to powering 1,700 homes a year.

UK hospitals have already cut down.

In the last few years, more than 40 hospital trusts in England and a number of hospitals in Wales have stopped using it.

NHS England will introduce a similar ban from 2024, which - like Scotland - prohibits its use for anything but exceptional circumstances.

Banning it across NHS hospitals in England would cut harmful emissions equivalent to those caused by powering 11,000 homes every year, according to NHS analysis of desflurane use in 2020."

Topics:

• ChemicalsPFAS
• Environment
• Health