We determined the specific gravities of presently available volatile anesthetics in order to supply a consistent quantitative basis for calibration standards. Using four 50-mL volumetric flasks, we obtained the following values at 20°C: desflurane 1.4651 ± 0.0004 g/mL (mean ± SD); enflurane 1.5230 ± 0.0003 g/mL; halothane 1.8680 ± 0.0007 g/mL; isoflurane 1.5019 ± 0.0006 g/mL; and sevoflurane 1.5203 ± 0.0008 g/mL. Measurements made at 0°C, 10°C, 20°C, and 25°C (not for desflurane at 25°C) revealed a decrease in specific gravity of 0.00250 ± 0.00014 g/mL for each degree of increase in temperature. These data bear on the issue of cost for anesthetics that are stored as liquids, but used as gases.
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Laster et al. (1994) studied this question.