Thoughtful prescription of inhaled medication has the potential to reduce inhaler-related greenhouse gas emissions by 85% in Europe, 2020

Researchers analysed the carbon footprint of inhaled medications in Europe using 2020 European sales data, and estimated the emissions of different treatment regimens on Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) step 2.
Findings:
– There is potential to reduce the carbon footprint of inhaled medications by 85% if DPIs are preferred over pMDIs.
– For moderate asthma, as-needed ICS/LABA had a substantially lower annual carbon footprint (0.8 kg CO2e) than the more traditional maintenance ICS + as-needed SABA (2.9 kg CO2e)
– Emissions from pMDIs in the EU were estimated to be 4.0 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MT CO2e) which could be reduced to 0.6 MT CO2e if DPIs were used instead