A medical device, which can be used at home to provide emergency treatment to people suffering from asthma or other pulmonary diseases, will be gradually phased out because it contains chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), an ozone-depleting substance.

The metered-dose inhaler (MDI), a type of pharmaceutical preparation where the active ingredient is contained in a pressurized canister with propellant, has been identified as containing CFC.

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Michael T. Defensor said CFC, more commonly known as freon, has been found to be responsible for the steady depletion of the atmospheric cover that protects the earth from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Over time, CFCs converge in the air and rise beyond the atmosphere and do harm on the earth’s natural protective layer against the sun’s intense heat.

Excessive ultra-violet radiation has been blamed for numerous cases of skin cancer, eye cataracts, and other health and environmental problems.

Defensor, however, said the health and safety of patients using CFC-containing metered-dose inhalers are still the primary consideration and that any decision to phase it out will be made only when technically and economically feasible alternatives are already available and sustainable in the market.

These alternatives should have the same therapeutic effect as existing inhalers, but should be safer to the environment, Defensor added.

Dr. Quintin Kintanar, former director of Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) and a consultant of the National CFC Phase-out Plan Project Management Unit, said the MDI with the brand name Salbutamol will be phased out in 2007. All other CFC-containing MDIs will be phased out by year 2010 as mandated by the country’s commitment to the Montreal Protocol on Substance that Deplete the Ozone Layer.

Kintanar said some drugstores already sell CFC-free MDIs, which buyers could identify through the green CFC/ODS-free logo on their brand labels. Other MDIs for phase-in are breath-activated dry powder inhalers without propellant and pressurized MDIs using propellants that have no ozone-depleting potential, such as Norflurane or HFA 134a or HFA 227, Kintanar added.

The Department of Health through BFAD is implementing a gradual transition and strictly regulates the phase-out of the CFC-containing MDIs to the CFC-free MDIs alternatives.