Table 1 Representative carbon footprint studies, green surveys, and position papers in kidney healthcare
From: Sustainability in dialysis therapy: Japanese local and global challenge
Author, publication year | Summary of findings, annotation | Reference |
|---|---|---|
Connor, 2010 | In the Dorset Renal Service, which covers a population of 865,000, activity data were collected for building energy use, travel, and procurement. The provision of hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis to 277 patients results in 1,965 t CO2e, equating to 7.1 t CO2e per dialysis patient. | [27] |
Connor, 2011 | This study compared carbon footprints of the differing modalities and treatment regimens of maintenance hemodialysis. In home hemodialysis, dialyzing more frequently and for longer hours compared to in-center patients tended to increase emissions. | [28] |
Lim, 2013 | In Victoria, Australia, the annual per-patient carbon footprint of satellite hemodialysis was calculated to be 10.2 t CO2e, based on activity data in 2011. | [29] |
Chen, 2017 | The carbon footprint of 68 subjects receiving peritoneal dialysis treatment was examined. Packaging consumption constituted the largest fraction of the overall carbon footprint, which totaled 1.4 t CO2e per patient per year. | [30] |
Nansai, 2020 | Carbon footprint of general healthcare in Japan was estimated by environmental input-output (EIO) and disaggregated to obtain the kidney disease-related value. Studies from other countries and international EIO investigations do not disaggregate by kidney-care section-specific data. National (Japanese) carbon footprint for “renal, urethral, and reproductive disease” was 2.12 million metric tons CO2e. | [22] |
Pollard, 2014 | This study used a bottom-up consumption model to estimate the carbon footprint of acute care with dialysis machines in the UK, primarily counting electricity use. For a typical patient in a critical care unit (CCU) for 2 days, a renal replacement machine consumed 9.60 kWh/200 W. | [39] |
Bendine, 2020 | Monthly eco-reporting was implemented in NephroCare centers in France in 2005. The indicators included electricity and water consumption as well as the generation of care-related waste. During the 2005-2018 study period, power and water consumption declined by 30% and 52%, respectively. Waste decreased from 1.8 to 1.1 kg per session. | [40] |
Conner, 2010 | A Green Nephrology survey of 58 kidney care units in England, Scotland, and Wales was conducted to support a clinical transformation to lower carbon kidney healthcare by identifying fruitful areas for attention. | [36] |
Barraclough, 2019 | A green nephrology survey was conducted across 83 kidney healthcare units in Victoria, Australia. Nurse unit managers of public dialysis facilities responded to 107 questions relevant to the environmental sustainability of dialysis services. | [37] |
Moura-Neto, 2019 | This paper was a call-to-action for sustainability in dialysis in Brazil. | [32] |
Piccoli, 2020 | A position statement was developed by the Italian Society of Nephrology, focusing primarily on dialysis management. It identified ten first affordable actions. | [33] |