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How Hospitals Fuel Climate Change
Winston Choi-SchagrinReporting on environmental health
It may be surprising, but the propellant gases in an inhaler or in anesthetic are greenhouse gases.
Nitrous oxide, or “laughing gas,” has 300 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide. And the main ingredient in an inhaler is a hydrofluorocarbon, a class of powerful greenhouse gases used in AC and fridges.
Improvements can be made. The gas in a metered-dose inhaler, for instance, has the same warming potential as 100 kg of CO2 over the course of its lifetime, while a dry-powder inhaler produces the equivalent of only 4 kg.