Other types of inhalers, including dry inhalers and soft powder mist inhalers, are less harmful to the environment as they deliver medication to the lungs without requiring propellants, they informed.
”Inhalers approved for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease generated an estimated 24.9 million (249 lakh) metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions in the US from 2014 to 2024, 98% of which were from metered-dose inhalers,” the authors wrote in the study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).”The estimated social costs of emissions were USD 5.7 billion,” they said.
Lead author Dr William Feldman, a pulmonologist and health services researcher at UCLA’s school of medicine, said, ”Inhalers add to the growing carbon footprint of the US healthcare system, putting many patients with chronic respiratory disease at risk.” The authors urged for a shift toward prescribing lower-emission inhalers, which may help mitigate the environmental damage of managing chronic respiratory diseases.
”On the upside, there is tremendous opportunity to make changes that protect both patients and the planet by utilising lower-emission alternatives,” Dr Feldman said.
Researchers analysed data from a US database that tracks inhaler prescriptions at the National Drug Code (NDC) level. Emissions were then estimated using validated academic studies and examined based on drug type, device type, propellant type, therapeutic class, brand status, manufacturer, payer, and pharmacy benefit manager.
”A key first step to driving change is understanding the true scale of the problem. From there, we can identify what’s fuelling these emissions and develop targeted strategies to reduce them — benefiting both patients and the environment,” Dr Feldman said.
