The department would be required to produce a report in 2027 with recommendations for anesthesia gas regulation.
“The legislature finds that a great deal of emphasis in greenhouse gas emissions policymaking in the state has appropriately focused on reducing sources of carbon dioxide, methane and refrigerant gases, which remain the most significant types of greenhouse gases emitted in the state,” the bill reads. “However, the legislature also finds it prudent not to overlook meaningful opportunities to reduce emissions of other types of greenhouse gases from more niche sources, such as anesthetic gases.”
The bill aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the use of anesthetic gases, while also maintaining appropriate levels of patient control and safety.
Desflurane is the inhaled anesthetic with the most potent greenhouse gas with the most global warming potential. When used to sedate patients, most of the gas is exhaled and released into the atmosphere.
Once desflurane is released in the environment, it remains in the atmosphere for 14 years and has a global warming impact 2,500 times greater than that of carbon dioxide.
The Washington Policy Center has issued a legislative memo criticizing the bill, writing that “for that same amount of money, [the legislature] could invest in projects that reduce the equivalent of nearly 17 years of those gases in Washington.”
The Policy Center instead encourages health systems to voluntarily opt-in to the Climate Commitment Act, which would “provide them more flexibility in addressing the emissions from anesthesia and would not require a costly and restrictive new law.”