In the last few years, the emission of nitrous oxide from wastewater treatment plants has become a topic of increased interest, given its considerable impact on the overall climate footprint of wastewater treatment plants. Various sampling strategies to estimate nitrous oxide emission from wastewater treatment plants have been applied in different studies. The present study addresses the influe...

Recent epidemiological studies suggest that chronic exposure to nitrous oxide may be a health hazard to the dental staff and the ADA has recommended that atmospheric nitrous oxide be controlled by use of a scavenging system. These concerns are of special interest to pediatric dentists because studies have shown that the effectiveness of the scavenging system may be influenced by patients" behav...

A modification of the Haldane technique, using potassium hydroxide as the absorbent, was devised to measure the concentration of carbon dioxide in the presence of nitrous oxide. It depends upon the principle that the amount of nitrous oxide absorbed is proportional to the duration of its exposure to the reagent. If the absorption of carbon dioxide from the gas mixture is completed within a fixe...

Purpose The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) recognizes nitrous oxide/oxygen inhalation as a safe and effective technique to reduce anxiety, produce analgesia, and enhance effective communication between a patient and health care provider. The need to diagnose and treat, as well as the safety of the patient and practitioner, should be considered before using nitrous oxide. By prod...

The effect of halothane and nitrous oxide on the capacity of natural killer (NK) lymphocytes from female patients with benign and malignant breast disease to kill the tumour cell line K562, was studied in vitro. There was no depression of activity of NK lymphocytes when exposed to 2% halothane and 66% nitrous oxide either alone or in combination. However, NK lymphocyte activity was depressed at...

Blood pressure and cerebrospinal fluid pressure changes were studied during lumbar air encephalography under general anaesthesia. Two anaesthetic techniques were used. In one group spontaneous respiration with nitrous oxide, oxygen and halothane was used and in the other controlled ventilation with nitrous oxide and oxygen was maintained. Larger falls in blood pressure, on sitting up, were seen...

The phenomenon of diffusion hypoxia is commonly believed to occur unless nitrous oxide-oxygen inhalation sedation is followed by "washout" with 100% oxygen for 5 minutes upon termination of the flow of nitrous oxide. When systematically studied, however, this phenomenon generally appears to be unfounded. The present study evaluated the effect of breathing room air instead of 100% oxygen in heal...

Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from a fully covered municipal wastewater treatment plant were measured on-line during 16 months. At the plant under study, nitrous oxide contributed three-quarters to the plant's carbon footprint, while the methane emission was slightly larger than the indirect carbon dioxide emission related to the plant's electricity and natural gas consumption. This contr...

Entrainment of air following exploration of posterior cranial fossa in the sitting position was studied in five patients. Intracranial pressure was monitored through a ventriculostomy catheter after closure of the dura. In three patients nitrous oxide was added to the breathing mixture only after the baseline intracranial pressure had stabilised following closure of the dura. A marked rise in i...

In nine patients with severe intracranial disease causing increased intracranial pressure (ICP), the effects on ICP and cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) of the following manoeuvres were studied: (1) endotracheal intubation, (2) addition of 50% nitrous oxide to the inspired gas after hyperventilation with oxygen and thereafter (3) addition of halothane to the nitrous oxide/oxygen mixture. The m...