title: Propofol wastage in anesthesia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Drug waste has been implicated as a significant contributor to environmental contamination and unnecessary health care costs.
  
  
  METHODS
  We collected the contents of pharmaceutical waste collection containers in each of 8 operating rooms, sorted them by hand, and tabulated the results. Propofol returned to the pharmacy was not counted as wasted drug.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Wasted or discarded propofol accounted for 45% of all the drug waste.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Propofol does not degrade in nature, accumulates in body fat, and is toxic to aquatic life. We reduced wastage by removing 50 and 100 mL vials of propofol from the pharmacy, retaining only the smallest size (20 mL).
authors.affiliation: Albany Medical Center/Albany Medical College, Albany, New York, USA. rmankes@nycap.rr.com
authors.forename: Russell F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Mankes
mesh_terms: D000758:Anesthesia; D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous; D004349:Drug Packaging; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D017048:Health Care Costs; D008506:Medical Waste / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal; D015742:Propofol
chemical_list: D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous; D008506:Medical Waste; D017744:Medical Waste Disposal; D015742:Propofol