The use of desflurane, a common anesthetic, has been on the decline in recent years as healthcare institutions have begun to sunset it in response to environmental concerns, Inside Climate News reported Jan. 5.
Here are 10 things to know about desflurane’s present use and how healthcare organizations are phasing it out:
1. There have been numerous global studies demonstrating the high carbon emissions associated with desflurane use. One German study published in 2025 found that a medical system in Berlin was able to reduce carbon emissions from anesthetic gases by more than 80% between 2018 and 2023 after halting the use of desflurane.
2. The European Union prohibited the use of desflurane beginning Jan. 1, according to Inside Climate News, allowing it only for medically necessary cases.
3. Approximately 1,000 tons of desflurane are vented from hospitals and healthcare facilities each year.
4. The emissions have a near-term climate impact equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from approximately 1.6 million automobiles.
5. Healthcare organizations in the U.S. account for 8.5% of the nation’s greenhouse gas use, a figure twice that of the global average for healthcare.
6. At the hospital level, approximately 5% of climate pollution comes from anesthesia gases, while less than 5% of inhaled anesthetics are metabolized in patients.
7. In 2013, the Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health System became the first health care provider in the U.S. to stop using desflurane and the first to eliminate a drug based on its climate impact.
8. Jodi Sherman, MD, an anesthesiologist and medical director of sustainability for YNHH, said that eliminating the use of desflurane is an “easy” and “clear” step that systems can take to improve environmental sustainability. YNHH now utilizes sevoflurane, an anesthetic that is 10 times less potent as a greenhouse gas and half as expensive. The system saved $1.2 million annually on anesthesia medications after switching, according to the report.
9. Other systems that have recently eliminated desflurane use include the University of California health system, Renton, Wash.-based Providence, Columbus-based OhioHealth, the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington and Sacramento-based Kaiser Permanente.
10. Richard Dutton, chief quality officer for U.S. Anesthesia Partners, told Inside Climate News that the changes made by his company since 2019 have reduced their greenhouse gas emissions from anesthesia by about 90%. USAP physicians have also cut back on the use of nitrous oxide.
