Ecological impact of anesthesia: Analysis of sevoflurane consumption as a greenhouse gas
Background and Aims: According to the World Health Organization, climate change represents a threat to global health. Healthcare activities must understand their ecological impact and reduce their environmental footprint. Decreasing greenhouse gas emissions is a major health priority, to which all h...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Journal of Anaesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/joacp.joacp_308_24 |
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| _version_ | 1849709256651046912 |
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| author | Scandurra Giulia Cristea Carmen Dony Philippe |
| author_facet | Scandurra Giulia Cristea Carmen Dony Philippe |
| author_sort | Scandurra Giulia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background and Aims:
According to the World Health Organization, climate change represents a threat to global health. Healthcare activities must understand their ecological impact and reduce their environmental footprint. Decreasing greenhouse gas emissions is a major health priority, to which all healthcare establishments should commit. We sought to understand whether anesthesiologists were aware of the impact of sevoflurane consumption on climate and whether they were inclined to implement eco-friendly strategies.
Material and Methods:
We assessed the knowledge of anesthesiologists about sevoflurane consumption and its impact on climate change. Overall, 152 anesthesiologists from Belgium, France, and Italy answered our questionnaire in April 2024. The database from the computerized anesthesia protocol was used to evaluate the average annual sevoflurane consumption at our Belgian institution between January 2015 and March 2022. The sevoflurane quantities used were obtained from information provided by the ventilator after each procedure. Potential savings were based on scientific recommendations regarding anesthesia ventilator settings. The analysis was based on the comparison between these data.
Results:
With optimized sevoflurane consumption conditions, the emission of 36.156 tons of CO2 could have been avoided, corresponding to 144,623 Km driven per year. The financial impact calculated was a saving of 533,525€ over 8 years. The survey highlighted that anesthesiologists were ready to embrace eco-friendly practices to reduce global pollution.
Conclusions:
We must invest in information and awareness-raising for anesthesiologists from the start of their medical training so that we can move toward a more eco-responsible practice to achieve major ecological and economic benefits. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ae45a1bbd2c5467ca347629f2b039540 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0970-9185 2231-2730 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Anaesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology |
| spelling | doaj-art-ae45a1bbd2c5467ca347629f2b0395402025-08-20T03:15:21ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsJournal of Anaesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology0970-91852231-27302025-07-0141350350910.4103/joacp.joacp_308_24Ecological impact of anesthesia: Analysis of sevoflurane consumption as a greenhouse gasScandurra GiuliaCristea CarmenDony PhilippeBackground and Aims: According to the World Health Organization, climate change represents a threat to global health. Healthcare activities must understand their ecological impact and reduce their environmental footprint. Decreasing greenhouse gas emissions is a major health priority, to which all healthcare establishments should commit. We sought to understand whether anesthesiologists were aware of the impact of sevoflurane consumption on climate and whether they were inclined to implement eco-friendly strategies. Material and Methods: We assessed the knowledge of anesthesiologists about sevoflurane consumption and its impact on climate change. Overall, 152 anesthesiologists from Belgium, France, and Italy answered our questionnaire in April 2024. The database from the computerized anesthesia protocol was used to evaluate the average annual sevoflurane consumption at our Belgian institution between January 2015 and March 2022. The sevoflurane quantities used were obtained from information provided by the ventilator after each procedure. Potential savings were based on scientific recommendations regarding anesthesia ventilator settings. The analysis was based on the comparison between these data. Results: With optimized sevoflurane consumption conditions, the emission of 36.156 tons of CO2 could have been avoided, corresponding to 144,623 Km driven per year. The financial impact calculated was a saving of 533,525€ over 8 years. The survey highlighted that anesthesiologists were ready to embrace eco-friendly practices to reduce global pollution. Conclusions: We must invest in information and awareness-raising for anesthesiologists from the start of their medical training so that we can move toward a more eco-responsible practice to achieve major ecological and economic benefits.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/joacp.joacp_308_24anesthesiaanesthesiologyclimate changeenvironmentsevofluranekey message: anesthesia gases contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. medical institutions must reduce their carbon footprint. optimizing sevoflurane consumption would significantly reduce co2 emissions and allow financial savings, thereby allowing us to evolve toward more eco-responsible practices. |
| spellingShingle | Scandurra Giulia Cristea Carmen Dony Philippe Ecological impact of anesthesia: Analysis of sevoflurane consumption as a greenhouse gas Journal of Anaesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology anesthesia anesthesiology climate change environment sevoflurane key message: anesthesia gases contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. medical institutions must reduce their carbon footprint. optimizing sevoflurane consumption would significantly reduce co2 emissions and allow financial savings, thereby allowing us to evolve toward more eco-responsible practices. |
| title | Ecological impact of anesthesia: Analysis of sevoflurane consumption as a greenhouse gas |
| title_full | Ecological impact of anesthesia: Analysis of sevoflurane consumption as a greenhouse gas |
| title_fullStr | Ecological impact of anesthesia: Analysis of sevoflurane consumption as a greenhouse gas |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ecological impact of anesthesia: Analysis of sevoflurane consumption as a greenhouse gas |
| title_short | Ecological impact of anesthesia: Analysis of sevoflurane consumption as a greenhouse gas |
| title_sort | ecological impact of anesthesia analysis of sevoflurane consumption as a greenhouse gas |
| topic | anesthesia anesthesiology climate change environment sevoflurane key message: anesthesia gases contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. medical institutions must reduce their carbon footprint. optimizing sevoflurane consumption would significantly reduce co2 emissions and allow financial savings, thereby allowing us to evolve toward more eco-responsible practices. |
| url | https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/joacp.joacp_308_24 |
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