Limiting use of desflurane helps hospitals reduce their greenhouse gas emissions; the European Union now prohibits its use during most procedures.

By Phil McKenna

Desflurane is a common anesthetic used in hospital operating rooms worldwide. It’s also a climate super pollutant. Now, several decades after the drug was first introduced, a growing number of U.S. hospitals have stopped using the anesthetic because of its outsized environmental impact. On January 1, the European Union went a step further, prohibiting its use in all but medically necessary cases.

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