Three Largest Nitrogen Gas Manufacturers in the U.S. Prohibit Products from Use in Executions

As more states consider nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method, three of the largest manufacturers in the U.S. have barred their products intended for life-saving measures from use in executions. 

“Airgas has not, and will not, supply nitrogen or other inert gases to induce hypoxia for the purpose of human execution,” the company, which is owned by the French multinational Air Liquid, announced following Oklahoma’s addition of nitrogen hypoxia to their execution protocol in 2015. The European Union’s anti-torture regulations prohibit member states from exporting goods intended for use in capital punishment. 

Since Alabama’s execution of Kenneth Smith using the untested method of nitrogen hypoxia, two other manufacturers of medical-grade nitrogen gas told The Guardian that their products would be barred from such use. Air Products had “prohibited end uses for our products, which includes the use of any of our industrial gas products for the intentional killing of any person (including nitrogen hypoxia).” Matheson Gas shared similar sentiments, telling The Guardian that the use of its nitrogen gas in executions was “not consistent with our company values.” 

“Drug manufacturers don’t want their medicines diverted and misused in torturous executions and the makers of nitrogen gas share the same objection: they do not want their products to be used to kill,” said Maya Foa, joint executive director of non-profit Reprieve, whose Lethal Injection Information Center has reported that over 60 global healthcare companies worldwide have taken some form of action to ensure their products are not used in executions. 

The widespread backlash from pharmaceutical companies, primarily in the last decade, has made it increasingly difficult for states to obtain some of the drugs used in executions. This has led states to intensify their secrecy laws in order to maintain the anonymity of drug suppliers, explore alternative execution methods, such as nitrogen hypoxia, and reintroduce previously abandoned execution methods. Following Mr. Smith’s execution, legislatures in Nebraska, Ohio, and Louisiana introduced bills to adopt nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method; Bill HB6 was signed into law by Louisiana Governor Landry on March 5, 2024 and will go into effect on July 1, 2024. Louisiana now joins Alabama, Oklahoma, and Mississippi in specifically authorizing nitrogen hypoxia, while another four states authorize lethal gas without specification.