04-07-2025
'Laughing gas' leak reported at Limerick hospital months before faulty system was shut down
A SUBSTANTIAL, ONGOING leak of nitrous oxide was detected at St. John's Hospital in Limerick last year – months before it was announced that the system was being decommissioned 'as a response to global warming'.
Long-term exposure to nitrous oxide or 'laughing gas' can damage the body's nervous system and red blood cells, leading to a number of serious neurological conditions, as well as increasing the risk of certain liver and kidney diseases.
During a seven-month audit carried out at the hospital last year, a substantial depletion of nitrous oxide supplies was recorded, despite the fact that there had been no clinical use of the gas in that period.
A spokesman for the Health Service Executive (HSE) claimed that a leak in the piped supply of the anaesthetic gas was first detected in October 2024.
However, records released under freedom of information laws show that management was informed of 'an ongoing leak' by a consultant anaesthetist in an email dated 2 September.
In the same correspondence, the consultant also suggested that a nitrous oxide leak was also ongoing at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).
On 31 October, the consultant described the leak as 'substantial' and said it was hoped to switch off the piped supply over Christmas, transitioning to the use of mobile nitrous oxide cylinders attached directly to anaesthetic machines.
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On 11 November, another consultant anaesthetist advised management that the piped nitrous oxide supply should be turned off, 'keeping in mind the losses that have been reported'.
The piped supply was finally decommissioned on 16 April, 2025, according to the HSE.
This was celebrated as part of an environmental strategy in a press release by the HSE in May, which said St. John's Hospital was 'in the vanguard of the global effort to reduce global emissions'.
Nitrous oxide is commonly used as pain relief during childbirth, though recreational use of the drug has risen in recent years, with the HSE Adolescent Addiction Service reporting a 175% increase in a recent 12-month period.
However, a HSE spokesman said there was 'no evidence' that the loss of nitrous oxide at St. John's Hospital had been used or taken off site for recreational purposes.
He said the hospital was among the first in the country to discontinue the use of piped nitrous oxide as a response to global warming.
'Detected initially in October 2024, [the leak] was in line with expectations for piped systems in hospitals, and there is no evidence to suggest that it posed any risk to patients or staff,' he added.
'There was no leak detected in clinical spaces where nitrous oxide was used. The HSE's Climate Action Strategy has targeted a 50% decrease in emissions from anaesthetic gases by 2030.
'While nitrous oxide is safe to use, the piped infrastructure traditionally used to deliver it inevitably results in waste, hence the global effort to reduce emissions, of which St. John's Hospital has been in the vanguard,' added the spokesman.
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