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Abstract
Climate change is a major global public health priority. The delivery of health-care
services generates considerable greenhouse gas emissions. Operating theatres are a
resource-intensive subsector of health care, with high energy demands, consumable
throughput, and waste volumes. The environmental impacts of these activities are generally
accepted as necessary for the provision of quality care, but have not been examined
in detail. In this study, we estimate the carbon footprint of operating theatres in
hospitals in three health systems.