Inhalers make climate change worse

 Many people use inhalers to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, conditions that are often exacerbated by the effects of climate change, principally smoke from wildfires. It turns out that inhalers themselves contribue to climate change.

Metered-dose inhalers, which are commonly used in the U.S., use hydrofluorocarbon aerosol propellants to help deliver medication into the lungs. These types of propellants are greenhouse gases that trap heat and carbon dioxide. In 2020, Americans used roughly 144 million metered-dose inhalers—the greenhouse gas equivalent of driving half a million cars for a year.

Incidentally, in 1987 the Montreal Protocol outlawed the ozone-depleting propellant called HCFC (hydrochlorofluorocarbons; note the extra chloro). When pharmaceutical companies switched to the newer propellant, they patented the new formulation, after which inhaler costs skyrocketed.

Dry-powder inhalers, such as those used in Sweden, are an effective alternative to the aerosol propellant type used by most people in the U.S. Unfortunately, some inhaled dry-powder medications are not yet available in the U.S., or they are not covered by insurance. Government agencies, insurers, and hospitals can help by creating a demand for nonpropellant inhalers, a move that would help persuade pharmaceutical companies to bring more of them to market.

Fortunately, pharmaceutical companies are now developing metered-dose inhalers using new propellants that have virtually no global warming effects. If and when they're brought to market, we can probably expect an extravagant price hike.

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