Efficiency of passive activated carbon anaesthetic gas capturing systems during simulated ventilation

Interest in passive flow filter systems to remove sevoflurane from anaesthetic machine exhaust have increased recently to mitigate the environmental impact of volatile anaesthetics. These filter systems consist of chemically activated carbon, with limited evidence on their performance characteristics. We hypothesised that their efficiency depends on filter material.

Binding capacity was tested for three carbon filter materials (CONTRAfluran®, FlurAbsorb®, and Anaesthetic Agent Filter AAF633). Adsorption efficiency and resistive pressure were determined during simulated ventilation at different stages of filter saturation and fresh gas flow. In addition, sevoflurane concentration in filtered gas was measured at randomly selected anaesthesia workstations.

Sevoflurane concentration in filtered gas exceeded 10 ppm when saturated with 184 ml sevoflurane each for CONTRAfluran and FlurAbsorb and 276 ml for AAF633. During simulated ventilation, sevoflurane concentration >10 ppm passed through CONTRAfluran and AAF633 at fresh gas flow 10 L min^-1 only at maximum saturation, but through FlurAbsorb at all stages of saturation. The resistance pressure of all filters was negligible during simulated ventilation, but increased up to 5.2 (0.2) cm H₂O during simulated coughing. At two of seven anaesthesia workstations, sevoflurane concentration in filtered exhaust gas was >10 ppm.

Depending on the filter material and saturation, the likelihood of sevoflurane passing through passive flow carbon filters depends on the filter material and fresh gas flow. Combining the filter systems with anaesthetic gas scavenging systems could protect from pollution of ambient air with sevoflurane.