Pollution control in the operating room: A simple device for the removal of expired anaesthesia vapours

Cameron, Harold

doi:10.1007/bf03004803

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A number of technical systems have been described which facilitate the ventilation of anesthetic gases from sources of leakage (4,8,9,11,13,14,17,23,25,36,40,41,43,48,50,54,62,70). Diverting the anesthetic gases via a tube to the floor fails to produce any satisfactory reduction in the exposure of staff (10,31).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure to anesthetic gases and ethanol during work in operating rooms.

Göthe¹,

Övrum²,

Hallén³

1976

Scand J Work Environ Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Exposure to anesthetic gases and ethanol during work in operating rooms. by Göthe C-J, Övrum P, Hallen B 2 (1976) 96-106. The concentration of halothane and ethanol in operating rooms was measured during 37 routine operations perfomed in nine different departments of surgery at six different hospi,tals. The time-weighted halothane concentrations in ,the respiratory :wnes of anesthetic and surgical nurses were 0.3--34.0 ppm (time-weighted average 7.2 ppm) and 0.1-9.2 ppm (time-weighted average 2.5 ppm), respectively, in the different operating departments. The corresponding ethanol concentrations were 0.3-36.5 ppm (time-weighted average 12.5 ppm) for anesthetic nurses and 1.5-46.6 ppm (time-weighted average 15.3 ppm) for surgical nurses. The anesthetic technique influences the exposure of the operating staff to anesthetic gases, but it does not affect exposure to ethanol. In controHed experiments volunteers were exposed to low concentrations of halothane or ethanol. About 60 % of both substances was retained. The content of ethanol in Ithe end-expired air approached zero within a few minutes a,fter the end of exposure, whiJIe low residual concentrations of halothane were demonstrable for more than 1 h. Although exposure to ethanol is insignificant in r,elation to the metabolic capacity of Ithe body, ethanol indicates the presence of volatile disinfectant components, and~ts spread through ,the room atmosphere should be kept in mind when the ventilation of oper>alting rooms is designed. The effective elimination of airborne pollutants in operating rooms calls for good general ventHation in conjunction with local exhaust close to the sources of anesthetic gas leakage. General ventilation mainly affects the concentration of \Substances well-mi'Xed with the room atmosphere, such as volatile disinfectant components and anesthetic vapor thaJt has spread beyond the actual workJ zones of the medical staff. For a significant reduction in .the concentration of anesthetic gases in the respiratory zones of the medical staff, the gases must be vented at the sou'rce of leakage. Since airborne anesthetics occur not only in operating rooms, general ventHation has ,to meet ceI'itain minimum requirements also in anesthetic induction rooms and recovery rooms. Operalting rooms and anesthetic induction rooms must lalSO be supplied with local exhaust systems.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure to anesthetic gases and ethanol during work in operating rooms.

Göthe¹,

Övrum²,

Hallén³

1976

Scand J Work Environ Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The use of scavenging systems for waste anaesthetic gases has been encouraged by the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (1979) according to the guidelines issued by the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS, 1976). Several devices have been described for receiving and disposing of waste gases (Cameron, 1970;Enderby, 1972;Mclnnes and Goldwater, 1972;Vaughan, Mapleson and Mushin, 1973;j0rgensen, 1974;Murrin, 1975;Enderby, Booth and Churchill-Davidson, 1978); devices which often involve the use of long pieces of tubing. Occlusion of these or other parts of the scavenging system has been reported (Burns, 1979;Malloy et al, 1979;Newton, 1981) and may result in airway obstruction or may subject the patient's airway and the anaesthetic circuit to excessive subatmospheric pressures which can cause pulmonary oedema or atelectasis (Sharrock and Leith, 1977).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%