Small Inhaler Change Causes Major Ripples in the Environment
Finally, after a number of years, the government has required that sellers in the U.S. replace the old CFC-propelled inhalers, used by many people, with HFA propelled inhalers.
The change in law legally occurred on the last day of December last year. Fundamentally, the intent for the change in the law was for environmental reasons. The old CFC inhalers used chlorofluorocarbon. Studies have shown that chlorofluorocarbon is one of the major culprits in depleting the ozone in the atmosphere. What happens is that when these inhalers are used, when the person exhales, he exhales the CFC also. When the CFC hits the atmosphere, ultraviolet light breaks them down. This is what causes the ozone to be depleted.
The U.S. is one of the last major countries to implement the change. Countries such as Canada, Europe, and Japan had all previously made the change.
Americans use medicinal drugs every year for symptoms as different as allergy free dogs, grass pollen allergy, and sulfa drug allergies. Even though the law changed last year to prevent the old inhalers from being produced and sold, no doubt there are still many people who have yet to replace their old inhalers with the newer ones.
According to the FDA, HFA, or hydrofluoroalkane, is much a much friendlier substance to the environment than CFC.
Since the changeover, users of the new HFA are primarily experiencing two differences. The biggest change is that the newer model inhalers tend to get clogged more frequently whereas with the older inhalers, this was not much of a problem. The other change, from a patient standpoint, is that the taste is a bit different.
It might seem that the tiny amount of propellant in each inhaler wouldn’t make a big difference. But there are million of these inhalers in use around the world each year. Because of this, the change is anticipated to radically diminish the amount of damage done to the environment each year as well as over the long term..
Disclaimer: The information on this website is intended for educational purposes only. It should not be used as a substitute for personal care by a licensed physician. Always see your physician for diagnosis and treatment of any concerning symptoms or medical condition.
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