Ep114. Laughing Gas, Serious Waste: Measuring Nitrous Wastage with Dr Ethan Fitzclarence

Who likes the idea of excessive waste in healthcare? Especially when it is something that can impact our colleagues and has negative climate effects?In this episode I chat with Dr Ethan Fitzclarence, from Perth, Western Australia about an audit he conducted as part of his anaesthetic training. He discovered an astounding amount of nitrous oxide was being leaked to the atmosphere. We discuss his methodology, the health impacts of nitrous oxide waste and the growing movement to toward decommissioning pipeline systems in favour of cylinder-based delivery.Read our Joint Statement on decommissioning nitrous oxide medical gas pipeline systems.For this work, Dr Fitzclarence won the Nerida Dilworth prize - congratulations! Find more information about this and other ASA research prizes here. The accompanying poster to the podcast can be found in the March 2026 edition of Australian Anaesthetist. The September 2022 edition is all about environmental sustainability and where you can read more about this and other initiatives undertaken by anaesthetists. Both are available on the ASA website.Learn more about other ways to get involved in an audit as a trainee:Ep69. Talking TRA2SH - trainee led research into sustainability in healthcare with Dr Jess Davies