Comments on HB 58-Surgical Smoke Evacuation System Requirements

UPHE board member, Dr. John MacFarlane, wrote the following letter in support of HB58. Dr. MacFarlane has been using a smoke evacuation system in his operating room to reduce the health hazards created by smoke from medical tools. This bill implements requirements for such systems, which reduces carcinogenic and mutagenic smoke, and protects human health.

The particulates in surgical smoke are smaller than the protection provided by standard surgical masks, demonstrating the need for a smoke evacuation system