Anaesthetic gasses also contribute to global warming: Scientists

WASHINGTON - Atmosphere scientists have warned that anaesthetic gasses that are conveniently used during surgeries have a global warming potential.

These gases are as harmful for the environment as a refrigerant, yet they are not reported along with other greenhouse gasses such as CO2, refrigerants and laughing gas.

University of Copenhagen researchers and NASA scientists found that one-kilo of anaesthetic gas affects the climate as much as 1620 kilos of CO2.

“We studied three different gasses in regular use for anaesthesia, and they’re not equally harmful,” said Ole John Nielsen of the University of Copenhagen.

All three are worse than CO2 but where the mildest ones Isoflurane and Sevoflurane have global warming potentials of 210 and 510 respectively, Desflurane the most harmful will cause 1620 times as much global warming as an equal amount of CO2, he explained.

The study was published in the journal British Journal of Anaestecia. (ANI)