Inhalers are the frontline treatment for asthma and COPD, but they come with a steep environmental cost, according to a new UCLA Health study—the largest to date quantifying inhaler-related emissions in the United States.

Inhalers are the frontline treatment for asthma and COPD, but they come with a steep environmental cost, according to a new UCLA Health study—the largest to date quantifying inhaler-related emissions in the United States.

Researchers found that inhalers have generated over 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually over the past decade, equivalent to the emissions of roughly 530,000 gas-powered cars on the road each year.

  • finitebanjo@piefed.worldEnglish
    11·
    2 days ago

    Like… Yes it absolutely does. Thats why we move EVERYTHING to CO2e for papers like this. CO2e is the lingua franca of discussing global warming. Its how we can compare cows to cars to trees to inhalers.

    WE DIDN’T COMPARE CARS TO INHALERS. WE COMPARED ALL INHALERS BEING MADE TOTAL TO SOME ARBITRARY NUMBER OF CARS.

    • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
      1·
      2 days ago

      Its not an arbitrary number of cars? Did you just, not read the article (or even the headline for that matter)?

      Its a specific number of which equates vehicle emissions to the CO2e of the annual number of inhalers.

      The annual rate of prescribed inhalers (1.6 billion) results in about the same CO2e as ~530k annual vehicular emission. Why is this breaking your brain?