Asthma sprays filled in Germany significantly contribute to the
destruction of the ozone layer, with the equivalent of 1,000 tonnes of
CFC-11 in terms of their ODP (38 per cent of the country's share).
Asthma sprays filled in Germany significantly contribute to the
destruction of the ozone layer, with the equivalent of 1,000 tonnes of
CFC-11 in terms of their ODP (38 per cent of the country's share).
Paradoxically, the health system thus contributes almost as much to
ozone depletion, and the consequent increases in health threating UV-B
radiation exposure, as the entire refrigeration and air-conditioning
industry, and far more than then production of insulating foams in
the construction industry.
Pharmaceutical giants like Glaxo and Boehringer-Igelheim have chosen to
move away from CFCs by switching to HFC-134a or HFC-227. These
propellants are powerful greenhouse gases. It is estimated that if all
asthma sprays filled in this country were converted to using HFC-134a as
a propellant, their emissions would be equivalent to 2.5 times the
greenhouse effect of the annual emissions of all fifty German
incineration plants for domestic waste.
Fortunately there is a solution available in the treatment of asthma
which is not damaging to the ozone layer or the climate. The substances
which asthma sufferers need to propel into their bronchial tubes can be
inhaled just as easily, if not better in many cases, in powdered form.
New, easy and safe-to-use powder appliances are said by German
pneumologists to be equivalent to CFC-propelled sprays in terms of their
medical effect. Orion Pharma (Germany) will have completely switched
their whole range of asthma sprays to CFC/HFC free methods.
