November 2016

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that the agency will end the essential medical use exemption for CFC ozone depleting substances as propellants for inhaler medications. The medical use exemption will officially expire on Feb. 23, 2017.

The Montreal Protocol, an international treaty designed to prevent further destruction of the earth's ozone layer by reducing the commercial use of ozone depleting substances, phased out the commercial use of ozone depleting substances in many consumer products.  Chloroflourocarbons (CFCs), a common propellant for respiratory medications, were one of the type of ozone depleting substance targeted in the Montreal Protocol.

Because of the important role of CFCs in respiratory medications, they were granted an essential use exemption. Since the Montreal Protocol, pharmaceutical manufacturers have been switching to alternative propellants or different formulations of respiratory medications that avoid the use of CFCs.

EPA's policy announcement marks the end of the successful transition of the respiratory medication sector into non-ozone depleting substances.