Introduction: Lactulose is a popular osmotic laxative, and it is metabolised in the large intestine by Escherichia coli resulting in CO2 production.
Methods: Our aim was to calculate the potential CO2 footprint of lactulose in the Scandinavian countries in 2010-2017, to see if a reduction of the use of lactulose would influence the global CO2 emission.
Results: We found a value of up to 6,729 tons of CO2, corresponding to 67 million kilometers of air travel or 1,665 flights around the globe.
Conclusion: Such CO2 emission is non-trivial and adds to other arguments against the use of lactulose.
Funding: none.
Trial registration: not relevant.