ADVANCING SUSTAINABLE ANESTHESIA

The problem

An Overlooked Climate Cost of Modern Medicine

Every day, operating rooms rely on sevoflurane, desflurane, and isoflurane to safely and effectively anesthetize patients. However, these gases are potent greenhouse gases that barely break down in the human body.

Up to 95% of sevoflurane and nearly 100% of desflurane passes through the body unchanged and is exhaled directly into the atmosphere¹²³. The carbon-fluorine bonds in these molecules make them extraordinarily resistant to natural atmospheric breakdown. Desflurane has a 100-year global warming potential (GWP) of roughly 2 540, meaning one kilogram of desflurane traps as much heat as over two and a half tonnes of CO₂⁴.

Even sevoflurane and isoflurane, generally considered "greener" alternatives, carry global warming potentials hundreds of times greater than CO₂⁴.

THE GAP

Health systems are being asked to act:

The NHS has already banned desflurane and mandated the elimination of volatile anesthetic emissions by 2040⁵
The U.S. Joint Commission has launched a sustainability accreditation program for hospitals⁶
The HHS requires sustainability plans from major U.S. health systems⁷
EU Green Deal is driving aggressive emissions targets⁸
Canada's Sustainable Development Strategy urges climate change action⁹

But hospitals have limited response options:

Phasing out high-impact agents like desflurane means losing their clinical benefits
Shifting to IV anesthesia isn't feasible for every case
Capturing waste gas for recycling is logistically complex, requiring constant storage, transport, and processing

None of these approaches actually eliminates greenhouse gases before reaching the atmosphere, which is why Kore Biomedical is working to chemically destroy anesthetics at the source.

[1] Kharasch, E. D.,Hummel, K. E. (1993). Identification of cytochrome P450 2E1 as predominant enzyme catalyzing human liver microsomal defluorination of sevoflurane, isoflurane and

methoxyflurane. Anesthesiology, 79, 795 - 807.

[2] Khrasch, E. D. (1995). Biotransformation of sevoflurane. Anesthesia and Analgesia, 81, 27s - 38s.

[3] Sutton, T. S., Koblin, D. D., Gruenke, L. D., Weiskopf, R. B., Rampil, (1991). Fluoride metabolites after prolonged exposure of volunteers Anesthesia & Analgesia, 73(2), 180–185.

[4] Cahill, J., Wang, N. Y., & McGain, F. (2022). The impact of anaesthetic gases on climate change. TheLancet Planetary Health, 6(2), e102–e103.

[5] NHS G. Greener NHS » Delivering a net zero NHS [Internet]. [cited 2025 Nov 14]. Available from: https://www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/a-net-zero-nhs/

[6] Healthcare Sustainability Certification – Joint Commission international [Internet]. [cited 2025 Nov 28]. Available from: https://www.jointcommission.org/en/certification/healthcare-sustainability

[7] HHS Sustainability | HHS.gov [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2025 Nov 14]. Available from: https://www.hhs.gov/about/sustainability/index.html

[8] The European Green Deal - European Commission [Internet]. [cited 2025 Nov 14]. Available from: https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en

[9] 2023-2027 Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy [Internet]. [cited 2026 Aug 07]. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/corporate/about-health-canada/reports-publications/sustainable-development/2023-2027-departmental-sustainable-development-strategy-updated-january-2025.html#a4.7

Our approach

PERFORMANCE

Reliably destroy
anesthetics, not store them

Device chemically converts >95% of waste anesthetics at low flow anesthesia into inert byproducts at the point of exhaust

CLINICAL FREEDOM

Enable use of preferred halogenated anesthetic

Technology allows clinicians to use desflurane or sevoflurane without concern of environmental consequences

INTEGRATION

Fit seamlessly into OR infrastructure

Sleek design connects directly to existing hospital scavenging systems without distrupting clinical workflow.