Environmental impact of low-dose methoxyflurane versus nitrous oxide for analgesia: how green is the ‘green whistle’?

New paper looking at the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) of all products and processes involved in the manufacture and use of Penthrox. *Not open access

Results: This LCIA found that Penthrox has a climate change effect of 0.84 kg carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Raw materials and the production process contributed to majority of the impact of Penthrox across all categories with raw materials accounting for 34.40% of the total climate change impact. Penthrox has a climate change impact of 117.7 times less CO2e compared with Entonox. 7 mg of 100 mg/100 mL of intravenous morphine sulfate had a climate change effect of 0.01 kg CO2e.

Martindale AE, Morris DS, Cromarty T, et al Environmental impact of low-dose methoxyflurane versus nitrous oxide for analgesia: how green is the ‘green whistle’? Emergency Medicine Journal Published Online First: 28 September 2023. doi: 10.1136/emermed-2022-213042