The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recommended that patients no longer use classical chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)-propelled inhalers, which are harmful to the environment by destroying the ozone layer which shields Earth from ultraviolet radiation. The CFC inhalers will be banned in the United States after Dec. 31, 2008, the FDA said.

However, the government regulator said patients which use albuterol inhalers, used to treat bronchospasm (wheezing) in patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), should not wait until CFC ones are no longer available. Instead, they should talk with their doctors right now about switching to hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) inhalers which are safe for the environment and are just as effective, but there are a few inconveniences.

The hydrofluoroalkane may taste differently and its spray may not be as powerful. This means that inhalers usually have to be primed and cleaned regularly to ensure that the drug is properly reaching the lungs.

The bad news for patients is that all of the HFA albuterol inhalers are "brand-name" as a result of patenting and thus cost approximately $20 more per inhaler than existing generic CFC albuterol inhalers.

The United States must give up producing CFC-propelled inhalers as a result of the Clean Air Act and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Hydrofluorocarbons are different from the chlorofluorocarbons by that they do not contain chlorine, which means they do not react with ozone. However, they do cause global warming.