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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Anaesthesia and Intensive Care

A summary guide for detecting and reducing nitrous oxide infrastructure leaks in healthcare facilities

  • Eugenie A. Kayak1
  • Rebecca E. McIntyre1,2
  • Forbes McGain1,3
  • Justin J. Skowno4,5
  • Steven J. Gaff6
  • Gemma Cooper7
  • Madeleine Skellern7,8
  • Arthur Wyns9
9 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Critical Care, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
  2. 2Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Management, Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
  3. 3Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Western Health, Melbourne, Australia
  4. 4Department of Anaesthesia, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia
  5. 5School of Child and Adolescent Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
  6. 6Department of Anaesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Australia
  7. 7National Heath, Sustainability and Climate Unit, Australian Centre for Disease Control, Australian Government, Canberra, Australia
  8. 8School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
  9. 9Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
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Abstract

Leaks from nitrous oxide (N2O) infrastructure have been identified as a significant contributor to the greenhouse gas emissions of healthcare facilities. Recent studies in Australia and in the United Kingdom have found at least half (and often more than 70%) of the N2O supplied to many healthcare facilities leaks from medical pipelines and associated infrastructure before clinical administration. To assist in addressing this issue, the University of Melbourne, in collaboration with the Interim Australian Centre for Disease Control and the Australian Government’s Department of Health and Aged Care, published Detecting and reducing nitrous oxide leaks in healthcare facilities – a practical guide (the ‘Guide’) in 2024. This article summarises the Guide and best practice approaches for detection and reduction of N2O leaks in healthcare facilities across Australia. It is intended to assist clinicians and facility managers to identify appropriate methods to test for N2O leaks, make an informed choice about the most appropriate way to supply N2O to a facility and reduce waste from N2O leaks in their healthcare facility.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{kayak2026summary,
  title = {{A summary guide for detecting and reducing nitrous oxide infrastructure leaks in healthcare facilities}},
  author = {Eugenie A. Kayak and Rebecca E. McIntyre and Forbes McGain and Justin J. Skowno and Steven J. Gaff and Gemma Cooper and Madeleine Skellern and Arthur Wyns},
  journal = {Anaesthesia and Intensive Care},
  year = {2026},
  month = jun,
  doi = {10.1177/0310057x261449257},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0310057x261449257},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - A summary guide for detecting and reducing nitrous oxide infrastructure leaks in healthcare facilities
AU  - Eugenie A. Kayak
AU  - Rebecca E. McIntyre
AU  - Forbes McGain
AU  - Justin J. Skowno
AU  - Steven J. Gaff
AU  - Gemma Cooper
AU  - Madeleine Skellern
AU  - Arthur Wyns
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/14
JO  - Anaesthesia and Intensive Care
DO  - 10.1177/0310057x261449257
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1177/0310057x261449257
AB  - Leaks from nitrous oxide (N2O) infrastructure have been identified as a significant contributor to the greenhouse gas emissions of healthcare facilities. Recent studies in Australia and in the United Kingdom have found at least half (and often more than 70%) of the N2O supplied to many healthcare facilities leaks from medical pipelines and associated infrastructure before clinical administration. To assist in addressing this issue, the University of Melbourne, in collaboration with the Interim Australian Centre for Disease Control and the Australian Government’s Department of Health and Aged Care, published Detecting and reducing nitrous oxide leaks in healthcare facilities – a practical guide (the ‘Guide’) in 2024. This article summarises the Guide and best practice approaches for detection and reduction of N2O leaks in healthcare facilities across Australia. It is intended to assist clinicians and facility managers to identify appropriate methods to test for N2O leaks, make an informed choice about the most appropriate way to supply N2O to a facility and reduce waste from N2O leaks in their healthcare facility.
SN  - 0310-057X
SN  - 1448-0271
ER  -