[Air pollution by sevoflurane in operating room and serum and urine inorganic fluoride of anesthetists].

Since lower blood-gas partition coefficient of sevoflurane provides rapid induction and emergence from anesthesia, sevoflurane has been used widely for inhalational anesthesia. However, because higher minimum alveolar concentration of sevoflurane requires a large dosage of anesthetic than other volatile anesthetics, air pollution with sevoflurane in the operating room might be of great concern. Anesthetists may keep inhaling the low concentration of anesthetics every day, even though scavenging system is equipped in the operating room. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects on anesthetists of the low concentration of anesthetics by measuring the inorganic fluoride concentration in the urine and serum of anesthetists and operating room nurses. Healthy 29 anesthesiologists and two operating room nurses were studied. Informed consent was obtained. Inorganic fluoride ions in the serum and urine were measured. Simultaneously sevoflurane concentration in operating room was measured in three operating rooms, at two places in the corridor and in the recovery room. Sevoflurane concentrations in three operating rooms were 1.22 ppm, 2.13 ppm and 6.05 ppm respectively. Concentration in the recovery room was 0.544 ppm. Serum and urine concentrations of inorganic fluoride were 1.1 +/- 0.1 mumol.l-1 and 36.2 +/- 17.1 mumol.l-1, respectively (mean +/- SD). Serum concentration of inorganic fluoride was within normal ranges. Although it is possible that fluoride concentration in urine is influenced by urine volume and a half of fluoride deposits in bone, no abnormal values in urine were found in this study. These results suggest that long term exposure to low concentration of sevoflurane and isoflurane causes no significant increase in their metabolites in operating room staffs.