1980 Volume 92 Issue 1-2 Pages 115-123
A survey was undertaken to evaluate the possible relationship between abnormal pregnancy and exposure to waste anesthetic gases. The results indicate that during the years 1976-1979, 36 per cent of pregnant operating room nurses suffered from threatend abortion, compared with 10 per cent in the control group. Our measurement of waste anesthetic gases showed that trace concentrations of 100 ppm of nitrous oxide and 2.0 ppm of halothane were present in the operating room atomosphere. The contamination of operating rooms by anesthetic gases could be reduced to less than 25 ppm of nitrous oxide and 0.5 ppm of halothane respectively through the use of an anesthetic gas scavenging system.
