CFC-Free Medication for an Ailing Ozone Layer : Part 2

by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

(Page 2 of 2)

When patients switch to the new technologies, they will understandably have concerns, says Nancy Sander, president of the patient advocacy organization Mothers of Asthmatics. The key to a successful transition, she says, is to educate health-care providers and patients about the therapeutic, as well as environmental, benefits of the switch to the new medicines.

New technologies can have direct benefits for patients, she says. "[Many] companies are investigating not only replacing CFC propellants but also building a better inhaler. They could get down to pure drug in some cases, with no additive whatsoever. Then you'd be getting more of what you need and less of what you don't."

Most patients probably won't hesitate to switch to the new medical products, according to a 1996 American Lung Association study. About 90 percent of patients surveyed said they would switch to a non-CFC inhaler under a doctor's recommendation.

And patients' confidence is well-placed, Otulana says: "The policy we are proposing will not jeopardize the availability of safe, effective medical treatments."

Planet-Wide Phaseout

CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) — made up of fluorine, chlorine and carbon — have been widely used in industry for decades because of the chemicals' stability, nonflammability, and low toxicity. "The fact that [CFCs] don't break down is a benefit for their many applications but a curse for the stratospheric ozone," says Tom Land, environmental protection specialist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Because CFCs are not dissolved by rain, over the years they rise to the ozone layer — in the stratosphere, about 10 to 20 miles (15 to 30 kilometers) above the Earth's surface. There, CFCs can linger for 100 years, while the sun's harsh radiation breaks them down, releasing atomic chlorine. One chlorine atom can destroy more than 100,000 ozone molecules.

Scientists have discovered that an ozone "hole" has developed over Antarctica. The ozone levels there sometimes drop by up to 60 percent, depending on the season, the weather, and other environmental factors. Over the United States, as well as the rest of North America, Europe, and Australia, ozone levels have fallen 5 to 10 percent since the 1960s, according to EPA.

Damage to the ozone layer has dangerous consequences for humans because the ozone molecules function as a shield from the sun's radiation, absorbing some of the harmful ultraviolet radiation before it reaches the Earth's surface.

Skin cancer is one of the most serious dangers from ozone depletion. A United Nations study estimated that a 1 percent decrease in the atmospheric ozone concentration translates into a 2 percent increase in the rate of non-melanoma skin cancer, which can be fatal.

"If we hadn't done anything about CFCs, the depletion of the ozone would have gotten worse, and we would have had to significantly change our lifestyle," Land says. "We wouldn't be able to go outside without wearing hats all the time, and we wouldn't be able to build things out of plastic and rubber that would be exposed to sunlight because they would deteriorate much faster."

The first move to cut back on CFCs in the United States came in the 1970s, when EPA banned use of the chemicals as aerosol propellants. But production of CFCs grew rapidly with the discovery that they could be used in other ways, mainly as refrigerants for air-conditioning homes and cars, solvents for cleaning electronic equipment and precision parts, and foam blowing agents for making foam products, such as food service packaging.

Scientific evidence of the dangerous, rapid depletion of stratospheric ozone led to a United Nations-sponsored international agreement, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The agreement calls for the phaseout of CFCs and other ozone-destroying chemicals. Its goal was to virtually end CFC production in the United States and other industrialized countries by January 1996. The timetable allows developing countries an extra 10 years to stop making CFCs.

"Some time in the middle of the next century, the ozone layer may recover to what is considered a normal level, as measured back in the 1960s," Land says.

As a result of worldwide efforts to protect the ozone layer, EPA expects 295 million fewer cases worldwide of non-melanoma skin cancer over the next century.

About the Author

www.fda.gov
FDA is A United States government body that oversees medical devices, including contact lenses, intraocular lenses, excimer lasers and eyedrops. In the US, these products must be approved by the FDA before they can be marketed.