What if there was a fairly easy change we could make that had the potential to improve Canada’s GHG emissions by almost a whole percentage.
5% of canadian greenhouse gases come from healthcare.
5% of healthcare greenhouse gases come from anesthetic gases.
This is about 1/4 of 1% of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions.
or about 1.6 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (Mt CO₂e).
Learn
- Why is Anesthetic gas emission significant?
- What changes can be made to reduce CO2e emissions.
- What opportunities exist for nitrous oxide delivery
- What impact do MDIs hav?
Act
1. Promote the creation/ expansion & use of good bike infrastructure.
2. Do this in a way that cooperates with others and empowers people.
3. Educate people and shift perceptions
4. Plan and Empower government to make wise decisions
What we are Learning
Learning about desflurane.
80% of the Global Warming Potential (GWP) from Canadian anesthetic gases comes from desflurane which has similar performance to sevoflurane, but is 20x more potent (GWP).
Desflurane: Has a GWP of approximately 2,540 over a 100-year period. Sevoflurane: Has a GWP of approximately 130 over the same 100-year period
Making the switch
Sevoflurane is roughly half the cost of desflurane, so not only is it a cost effective alternative, but switching from desflurane to sevoflurane could result in a 76% reduction in the GWP effects of the anesthetic gas.
In 2021 Canada emitted 670 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (Mt CO₂e). A 76% reduction in 0.25% of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions would be similar to eliminating 1.27 Million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (Mt CO₂e). Or eliminating the greenhouse gas emissions of 76,000 people. (well worth it).
Leaking Medical Gas Pipeline Systems in acute hospital settings.
Nitrous Oxide Pipes installed to carry anesthetic gas to patients can leak, wasting the gas and contributing to climate change unnecessarily. NO2’s GWP is approximately 298 times that of carbon dioxide (CO₂) over a 100-year period. There are alternatives but even NO2 may be used with less waste. In the Pacific Northwest, hospitals transitioned from centralized nitrous oxide delivery systems to portable cylinder-based systems. This switch drastically reduced the amount of Nitrous Oxide leakage, which had been a common issue in the previous infrastructure. The pipes in the walls of our hospitals that carry anesthetic gases. They leak. A lot. A video from the 2022 CleanHealth conference is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRBajNxKo4A
Metered-dose inhalers (MDIs)
MDIs contain HFC propellants to aerosolize medications, and can have a substantial environmental impact because HFCs are powerful greenhouse gases.
Action FVCA is taking.
We have written every Health Authority in Canada, asking them to replace desflurane with sevoflurane.
We are excited to see the progress at Fraser health where 5 facilities have ended the use of desflurane.
Your participation is welcome and necessary. All of these activities are subject to available time and energy.
How you can help.
1. Write health ministers asking them to severely limit the use of desflurane here. https://win.newmode.net/fraservalleyclimateaction/restrictendtheuseofdesfluraneatcanadianhealthauthorities
2. Write letters to health authorities, encouraging them to move beyond Desflurane.
3. Asking health authorities to audit their use of Nitrous Oxide to detect leaks in the piped infrastructure.
4. Planning to ask Health authorities to switch from MDI to equally effective alternatives.
5. Other ideas you have?
Would you like to help us send some letters? We could use the help! reach out at fvclimateaction@gmail.com