Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a greenhouse gas and ozone depleting drug that is commonly used in hospitals worldwide. A high proportion of the drug is lost or wasted, contributing to unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions of N2O can be reduced by cutting use or catalytic cracking; here we outline the methods to reduce emissions from piped N2O waste.
N2O is used as an inhalational anaesthetic agent or mixed with oxygen and air (mixed N2O) for pain relief in labour wards, emergency departments, and pre-hospital environments. It is a potent greenhouse gas—one of six critical gases targeted for reduction in the Kyoto Protocol1—that has a 100 year global warming potential almost 300 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2), and is an ozone depleting …