Uses & Products

Anesthetic gases block pain during surgery, and can include nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and halogenated gases like sevaflurane, isoflurane, desflurane, and halothane (brand names include Fluothane®, Forane®, Suprane®, and Ultane®). Nurse anesthetists typically deliver the gases via a face mask for children and, for adults, through tracheal intubation (a tube passing from the mouth to the trachea).

Health Concerns

Waste gases that leak into air from the anesthesia machine, tubing, or via patient exhalations are linked to increased rates of miscarriage, birth defects, memory and motor impairment and other health problems in studies of exposed health care workers.

Survey Findings

0 percent of more than 1,500 nurses surveyed reported on-the-job exposures. In our survey, nurses exposed to anesthetic gases during pregnancy reported rates of certain birth defects in their children (central nervous system, cardiovascular, genitourinary, and musculoskeletal) up to seven times higher than among children born to nurses not exposed during pregnancy.

Exposure and disease frequencies provided represent responses from more than 1,500 nurses to an online survey concerning their job history, their health, and the health of their children. Analysis of these data show that nurses highly exposed to anesthetic gases reported a number of health problems at higher rates than other nurses.

Note: This survey was not "controlled" — it was open to any nurse interested in responding. Therefore, it is not possible to cannot draw rigorous, scientific conclusions from the data. But the survey does show that many nurses exposed to chemicals and other hazards on the job are experiencing health problems. More research is critically needed.

Exposures are prevalent: 1,552 nurses & anesthetic gases

0% are now or were ever exposed on the job

0% of nurses exposed while pregnant

0% of nurses exposed currently or over past 5 years

0% of nurses exposed routinely (at least once per week) for 10 years or more

Commonly reported health problems

Among the 0 nurses routinely exposed**:<

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SELECT distinct healthoutcome1to1.id FROM healthoutcome1to1,employ_exposure WHERE child_id=0 AND healthoutcome1to1.id=employ_exposure.id AND (diagnosis="Nausea, chronic") AND chemical IN ('nit_ox') AND ( years_some + years_reg+years_day)>=10