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A stink over fresh air

If you're one of 20 million Americans who use an inhaler to alleviate your asthma, you may be joining a different club: Disgruntled. That's because the CFC versions are, as of 2009, off the market,

If you're surprised to hear that there are still everyday consumer products being sold that use ozone-threatening Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), join the club.

But if you're one of 20 million Americans who use an inhaler to alleviate your asthma, you may be joining a different club: Disgruntled. That's because the CFC versions are, as of 2009, off the market, and you must now switch over to a new, redesigned inhaler that has the same medicine but uses an eco-friendler propellant.

Unfortunately, in addition to a change in design and feel that patients must master and get used to, this change makes the inhalers five to six times as expensive as they were. They're also more likely to clog because the new propellant is stickier. Great.

This is a situation with no easy answer, but there's not much left to argue about now: The old CFC inhalers are out, like it or not.

But it's a reminder, at least, that some of this "greening" falls harder on certain people than on others.