According to a new research conducted by the scientist at Dubendorf, Switzerland, the Anaesthetic gases used by the surgeons to carry their surgery smoothly, is also the cause of climate change and rising temperature of Earth.
Major findings
According to Martin Vollmer, the atmospheric chemist at Swiss Federal Laboratories, and the lead researcher of this study, a kg of desflurane is same as 2,500 kilograms of CO2 that results in greenhouse warming. However, the Anaesthetic gases are more effective in context with the impacts of greenhouse-gas, unlike carbon dioxide.
The research says that in past 10 years, there has been concentration of gases like sevoflurane, desflurane and isoflurane, which are increasing at the global level and the compounds of these concentrations of anaesthetics are as segregated as the field.
How anaesthesia gases tend to increase Earth’s temperature?
Carbon dioxide is the most popular climate warmer. Just like carbon dioxide, these anaesthesia gases facilitate an atmosphere in accumulating and storing greater energy from Sun. but, these gases are extra potent in this effect than the CO2.
Martin Vollmer explains that on the basis of kg-per-kg, the anaesthesia gases become more potent. The researchers unveiled that in the year 2014, desflurane atmospheric concentration was 0.30 parts per trillion or ppt. Meanwhile, the halothane, isoflurane and sevoflurane came in 0.0092 ppt, 0.097 ppt and 0.13 ppt, respectively.
In the research, the most common form of anaesthesia, i.e., nitrous oxide was not included because it comes from various other sources as well.
Reviewer of this research, anaesthesiologist Jodi Sherman at Yale University School of Medicine, said that the gas abundance of Anaesthesia is rising high and this should not be left unseen. Jodi Sherman added that desflurane does not have anything unique that cannot be tackled. It can be dealt with, in a same manner like other drugs. She explained that it was possible to work even without Desflurane.
The study was published in Geophysical Research Letters journal on the Internet.
