24 March 2025
Maddison Winsor
[FYI request #29985 email]
Tēnā koe Maddison
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00080901
Thank you for your email on 1 March 2025, asking Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora for the
following under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
“Could you please provide clarification and data on the environmental impact of propellant-
based medications administered in Te Whatu Ora hospitals.
1. Are propellant-based medications (e.g., salbutamol inhalers such as Ventolin, and
anesthetic gases) included in the overall greenhouse gas emissions calculations for these
hospitals? If so, please specify the data source or methodology used and where these
figures appear in your published reports.
2. How many propellant-based inhalers were dispensed or administered in 2024 by hospital
staff? If available, please provide a breakdown by hospital.
3. What is the total volume or number of anesthetic gases used in hospital settings over the
last fiscal year Please include a hospital-specific breakdown if available.
4. What is the estimated carbon dioxide equivalent associated with the use of these
propellant-based medications? Please describe the calculation method and confirm
whether these emissions are integrated into the hospitals’ overall carbon footprint.
5. In your response, where, if at all, were these figures or considerations included?”
Received as a follow-up to HNZ00078514, which Health NZ provided a response to on 27
February 2025.
Response
For the sake of clarity, I will address each section of your request in turn.
1. Are propellant-based medications (e.g., salbutamol inhalers such as Ventolin, and
anesthetic gases) included in the overall greenhouse gas emissions calculations for these
hospitals? If so, please specify the data source or methodology used and where these
figures appear in your published reports.
Health NZ GHG Emissions Inventory includes the emissions from medical gases and anaesthetic
vapours. Please refer to the reports in our previous response for an aggregated output for all
Health New Zealand hospitals.
https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/publications/greenhouse-gas-inventory-report-2022-23
https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/publications/greenhouse-gas-emissions-inventory-report-
fy202324
Methodology: For this source, we apply an emissions factor sourced from the Ministry for the
Environment
(https://environment.govt.nz/publications/measuring-emissions-a-guide-for-
organisations-2023-emission-factors-summary/) to the volumes or weight of the different medical
gases and anaesthetic vapours that have been purchased during the Financial Year.
The inventory does not include information about propellant-based medications such as inhalers.
While there is a small amount of inhalers prescribed in-hospital. The majority of prescriptions for
inhalers are done by General Practice. Health NZ does not include emission arising from General
Practice in its annual GHG Emissions Inventory.
2. How many propellant-based inhalers were dispensed or administered in 2024 by hospital
staff? If available, please provide a breakdown by hospital.
Health NZ does not hold information centrally on propellant-based inhalers dispensed or
administered in hospitals. Therefore, this section of your request is refused under section 18(f) of
the Act, as substantial manual research and collation would be required across Health NZ’s
districts to provide information on the number of propellant-based inhalers dispensed or
administered in hospitals across the country.
I have considered whether fixing a charge for the supply of the information or extending the
timeframe for response would enable Health NZ to respond. I do not consider that either option
would remove the impact that supplying the information would have on our other operations.
However, the Pharmaceutical Data webtool on our website may be of interest to you as it can be
used to search and download summary data about dispensing’s in the community. It is accessible
here:
https://tewhatuora.shinyapps.io/pharmaceutical-data-web-tool/.
3. What is the total volume or number of anesthetic gases used in hospital settings over the
last fiscal year Please include a hospital-specific breakdown if available.
The table below provides the volume of anaesthetic vapours and associated emissions calculated
for the districts of the reference hospitals you previously requested. Please note that the majority of
the nitrous oxide volume is used in midwifery and not in anaesthetics.
Table One: Volume of anaesthetic vapours and associated emissions by district
Volume
KgCO2e
Volume
KgCO2e
Capital & Coast, Hutt Valley and
Wairarapa
Nitrous oxide (kg)
2,832
750,542
3,566
944,988
Sevoflurane (bottle)
552
45,398
306
25,166
Counties Manukau
Nitrous oxide (kg)
4,478
1,186,772
4,753
1,259,475
Desflurane (bottle)
12
7,564
6
3,782
Sevoflurane (bottle)
504
41,450
612
50,332
Te Toka Tumai I Auckland
Nitrous oxide (kg)
4,471
1,184,886
3,968
1,051,510
Isoflurane (bottle)
137
25,158
32
5,876
Desflurane (bottle)
7
4,412
9
5,673
Sevoflurane (bottle)
591
48,605
992
81,584
Waitaha I Canterbury
Nitrous oxide (kg)
5,523
1,463,611
4,218
1,117,817
Isoflurane (bottle)
6
1,102
6
1,102
Sevoflurane (bottle)
354
29,114
414
34,048
Waitematā
Nitrous oxide (kg)
7,334
1,943,510
7,766
2,057,990
Desflurane (bottle)
14
8,824
14
8,824
Sevoflurane (bottle)
157
12,912
228.00
18,751
Not all anaesthetics require anaesthetic vapours or medical gases, therefore volume of vapours is
not indicative of procedural numbers.
4. What is the estimated carbon dioxide equivalent associated with the use of these
propellant-based medications? Please describe the calculation method and confirm
whether these emissions are integrated into the hospitals’ overall carbon footprint.
5. In your response, where, if at all, were these figures or considerations included?
The total emissions for medical gases and anaesthetic vapours were included in our previous
response as part of the GHG Emissions Inventories for 2022/23 and 2023/24 Financial Years.
Health NZ does not calculate the carbon dioxide equivalent associated with use of propellant-
based medications such as inhalers for its GHG Emissions Inventory, therefore no figures were
provided in our previous response. As such, this section of your request is refused under 18(e) of
the Act, as the information does not exist
How to get in touch
If you have any questions, you can contact us at
[email address].
If you are not happy with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman. Information about how to do this is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
by phoning 0800 802 602.
As this information may be of interest to other members of the public, Health NZ may proactively
release a copy of this response on our website. All requester data, including your name and
contact details, will be removed prior to release.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Rick Lomax
Head of Sustainability
Planning, Funding and Outcomes
TeWhatuOra.govt.nz
Health NZ, PO Box 793,
Wellington 6140, New Zealand
