Recycling anesthetics to fight global warming

Blue-zone technologies is a Canadian company that works with anesthetics. These gasses are potent greenhouse agents, and only about 5% of the gas used gets absorbed by the patient. The rest is normally vented, at a rate that makes each hospital’s anesthetic emissions comparable to the annual emissions from hundreds of cars. Blue-zone’s Deltasorb canisters are installed in operating rooms and capture the anesthetic breathed out by the patient. This prevents it from entering the atmosphere and allows the company to recycle the chemicals.

While the contribution of such technologies is relatively small, I appreciate the way in which this is a closed-loop system. Rather than treating the atmosphere as a dump for wastes, it is preventing the emission of harmful gasses. Further, rather than treating the captured wastes as garbage to be disposed of, it treats them as a feedstock for a new process of manufacture.

I learned about this from Tyler Hamilton’s Clean Break blog.

Author: Milan

In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. In the fall of 2005, I began reading for an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford. Outside school, I am very interested in photography, writing, and the outdoors. I am writing this blog to keep in touch with friends and family around the world, provide a more personal view of graduate student life in Oxford, and pass on some lessons I've learned here. View all posts by Milan