Healthcare's ecological footprint generates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that vary
by country in terms of CO2 equivalents (CO2-eq) for example, Canada 4%, Australia 7% and the United States of
America (USA) 10%.
1
Healthcare providers aiming to sustain and improve health need to become actively
involved in addressing the climate and waste crisis as a health emergency that contributes
to trauma, illness, and death.
- McGain F.
- Ma S.C.
- Burrell R.H.
- et al.
Why be sustainable? The Australian and New Zealand college of anaesthetists professional
document PS64: statement on environmental sustainability in anaesthesia and pain medicine
practice and its accompanying background paper.
Anaesth Intensive Care. 2019; 47: 413-422
1
In particular, both air pollution and rising temperatures contribute to increasing
pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates
that between 2030 and 2050, climate change will contribute to approximately 250,000
additional deaths per year worldwide.
- McGain F.
- Ma S.C.
- Burrell R.H.
- et al.
Why be sustainable? The Australian and New Zealand college of anaesthetists professional
document PS64: statement on environmental sustainability in anaesthesia and pain medicine
practice and its accompanying background paper.
Anaesth Intensive Care. 2019; 47: 413-422
2
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to The American Journal of SurgeryAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Why be sustainable? The Australian and New Zealand college of anaesthetists professional document PS64: statement on environmental sustainability in anaesthesia and pain medicine practice and its accompanying background paper.Anaesth Intensive Care. 2019; 47: 413-422
- Climate change and health.(June 2022))
- The environmental footprint of health care: a global assessment.Lancet Planet Health. 2020; 4: e271-e279
- Roadmap to Sustainable Health Care. AMA Insight [Internet].2021 ([cited 2021 19 August]; 15. Available from:)
- Operating room waste reduction in plastic and hand surgery.Plast Surg. 2015; 23: 235-238
- Intraoperative waste segregation initiative among anesthesia personnel to contain disposal costs.Waste Manag. 2021; 122: 124-131
- Recycling plastics from the operating suite.Anaesth Intensive Care. 2008; 36: 913-914
- Greening the operating room: results of a scalable initiative to reduce waste and recover supply costs.Neurosurgery. 2019; 85: 432-437
- Lean and green hand surgery.J Hand Surg Am. 2018; 43: 179-181
- The volume of recyclable polyethylene terephthalate plastic in operating rooms - a one-month prospective audit.Am J Surg. 2020; 220: 853-855
Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 13, 2022
Accepted:
September 10,
2022
Received in revised form:
September 7,
2022
Received:
May 11,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
