Objective To investigate waste anesthetic gas (WAG) pollution of operating rooms in Shenzhen.
Methods A total of 240 operating rooms in 30 hospitals at various levels in Shenzhen were selected for this study. For each of the selected operating rooms one air sample was collected on the working platform of anesthesia machine when anesthesia was administrated. According to whether inhalation anesthesia was delivered during air sampling and whether inhalation anesthesia was used in routine general anesthesia in the hospitals, 240 air samples were divided into 3 groups:inhalation group (Yes), non-inhalation group A (No/Yes), and non-inhalation group B (No/No). Another 30 air samples were collected from 30 anesthetist offices as controls. Concentrations of sevoflurane, isoflurane, and enflurane in the air samples were determined by solvent desorption gas chromatography.
Results WAG was detected in none of the 30 control samples, 59 samples (93.65%) of the inhalation group (n=63), 71 samples (68.27%) of the non-inhalation group A (n=104), and 6 samples (8.22%) of the non-inhalation group B (n=73). There were 31 samples of inhalation group (49.21%) and 13 samples of non-inhalation group A (12.50%) attaining or exceeding a maximum allowable concentration of 2 mg/L. There were significant differences in the detectable rates of WAG and the proportion of WAG concentrations equal to or above 2 mg/L between any of the two exposure groups (P<0.01). The highest WAG pollution level was found in the operating rooms delivering inhalation anesthesia, followed by the ones using inhalation anesthesia as routine general anesthesia.
Conclusion The WAG that leaks out during delivery of inhalation anesthesia may cause WAG pollution issues in operating rooms. Effective measures are required to control WAG.
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