Uploaded November 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) once estimated that more than 200,000 health care professionals - including anesthesiologists, nurse anesthetists, surgical and obstetric nurses, operating room (OR) technicians, nurses’ aides, surgeons, anesthesia technicians, post-anesthesia care nurses, dentists, dental assistants, dental hygienists, veterinarians and their assistants, emergency room staff, and radiology department personnel - are potentially exposed to waste anesthetic gases (WAGs) and are at risk of occupational illness.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) describes waste anesthetic gases as small amounts of volatile anesthetic gases that leak from a patient’s anesthetic breathing circuit into the air of operating rooms during delivery of anesthesia. These gases may also be exhaled by patients recovering from anesthesia. Waste anesthetic gases include both nitrous oxide and halogenated anesthetics.
Some potential effects of exposure to waste anesthetic gases, according to OSHA, are nausea, dizziness, headaches, fatigue and irritability, as well as sterility, miscarriages, birth defects, cancer, and liver and kidney disease, among operating room staff or even their spouses in the case of miscarriages and birth defects.
The agency goes on to state that employers and employees should be aware of the potential effects and be advised to take appropriate precautions. Fortunately, there are a number of was to control exposure to waste anesthetic gases. These include, but are not limited to:
• Engineering Controls (ventilation and scavenging equipment)
• Work Practices
• Hazard Communication and Training
• Air Monitoring
These are just a few things to know about waste anesthetic gases and potential occupational exposure risks. To learn more about this or other air testing and monitoring, industrial hygiene, environmental, health or safety issues, please visit the websites shown below.
Clark Seif Clark csceng.com
EMSL Analytical, Inc. emsl.com
LA Testing latesting.com
Zimmetry Environmental zimmetry.com
Healthy Indoors Magazine healthyindoors.com
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) once estimated that more than 200,000 health care professionals - including anesthesiologists, nurse anesthetists, surgical and obstetric nurses, operating room (OR) technicians, nurses’ aides, surgeons, anesthesia technicians, post-anesthesia care nurses, dentists, dental assistants, dental hygienists, veterinarians and their assistants, emergency room staff, and radiology department personnel - are potentially exposed to waste anesthetic gases (WAGs) and are at risk of occupational illness.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) describes waste anesthetic gases as small amounts of volatile anesthetic gases that leak from a patient’s anesthetic breathing circuit into the air of operating rooms during delivery of anesthesia. These gases may also be exhaled by patients recovering from anesthesia. Waste anesthetic gases include both nitrous oxide and halogenated anesthetics.
Some potential effects of exposure to waste anesthetic gases, according to OSHA, are nausea, dizziness, headaches, fatigue and irritability, as well as sterility, miscarriages, birth defects, cancer, and liver and kidney disease, among operating room staff or even their spouses in the case of miscarriages and birth defects.
The agency goes on to state that employers and employees should be aware of the potential effects and be advised to take appropriate precautions. Fortunately, there are a number of was to control exposure to waste anesthetic gases. These include, but are not limited to:
• Engineering Controls (ventilation and scavenging equipment)
• Work Practices
• Hazard Communication and Training
• Air Monitoring
These are just a few things to know about waste anesthetic gases and potential occupational exposure risks. To learn more about this or other air testing and monitoring, industrial hygiene, environmental, health or safety issues, please visit the websites shown below.
Clark Seif Clark csceng.com
EMSL Analytical, Inc. emsl.com
LA Testing latesting.com
Zimmetry Environmental zimmetry.com
Healthy Indoors Magazine healthyindoors.com
