It has taken a bit of tim, but finally the millions of people using propelled inhalers have finally, and reluctantly made the switch from CFC- propelled inhalers to 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 when it comes to depleting the atmosphere’s ozone layer. When a CFC inhaler is used, the person breathes in chlorofluorocargon along with whatever medicine he is taking. And then, when the person exhales, he exhales the CFC also. When the CFC meets with the ultraviolet light in the atmosphere, the CFC is broken down. This chemical reaction is what triggers a percentage of the ozone depletion.
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 drugs every year for symptoms as varied as dog allergy treatment, pollen allergy symptoms, and seasonal allergy relief. Even though stores stopped selling the older inhalers at the end of 2008, many patients undoubtedly are still using some of the older ones that they purchased prior to this year.
HFA, or hydrofluoroalkane, is an environmentally friendly propellant that, according to the FDA, is much more environmentally friendly.
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.
Even though the amount of the propellant is small in each individual inhaler, since millions of people used the inhalers each year, the change is expected to significantly decrease the amount of harm done to the environment.
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