# Plume evacuation

Plume evacuation is the removal of surgical plume, the smoke that OSHA says is created when lasers or electrosurgical units thermally destroy tissue; HTM 02-01 (2026), the NHS England guidance, says piped medical vacuum should not be used to extract these fumes and requires purpose-designed local exhaust ventilation.

The Canadian standard CSA Z7396.1:22, which covers pipelines for medical gases, medical vacuum, medical support gases and anaesthetic gas scavenging, gives no specific requirements for plume evacuation systems (PES) that are part of an overall medical gas pipeline distribution system; it offers informative guidance in Annex R. ISO 10079-4:2021, the general requirements for medical suction equipment, does not apply to plume evacuation systems.

## Sources

- [OSHA, Laser/Electrosurgery Plume overview](https://www.osha.gov/laser-electrosurgery-plume)
- [NHS England, HTM 02-01 (2026) Part A, paragraph 10.62 (laser/surgical diathermy smoke extraction)](https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/health-technical-memorandum-02-01-medical-gas-pipeline-systems-part-a-design-installation-validation-verification-aug-2026.pdf)
- [CSA Group, CSA Z7396.1:22 Medical gas pipeline systems, Part 1: preface and scope (clauses 1.1 and 1.4)](https://www.csagroup.org/store/product/2702512/)
- [ISO 10079-4:2021, Medical suction equipment, Part 4: General requirements (iso.org)](https://www.iso.org/standard/77571.html)

Reviewed: 2026-10-22. Ultra Controlo engineering. https://library.ultracontrolo.com/glossary/plume-evacuation/