The Food and Drug Administration issued an advisory Friday that the patients using inhalers to dispense airway-relaxing albuterol during asthma attacks should talk to their doctors about alternatives.

The FDA said that old fashioned asthma inhalers made with ozone-depleting propellants that contain environment-harming chemicals will no longer be sold at year's end. The Albuterol inhalers that use chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) to propel the medicine into the lungs will be banned in the United States after this year because CFCs damage the Earth's ozone layer.

The FDA said that asthma inhalers with CFCs will no longer be made or sold in the U.S. after 31 Dec., instead the inhalers powered by ozone-friendly HFAs, or hydrofluoroalkanes will be produced and sold. The agency asserted that doctors should begin switching patients to other albuterol inhalers that contain hydrofluroalkane (HFA) propellants.

The agency said, the patients need to familiarize themselves with the HFA versions. The spray may taste different and feel softer than CFC-propelled inhalers. The HFA inhalers need to be cleaned regularly to prevent blockages in the device that could prevent the medicine from reaching the lungs. HFA inhalers are little costlier than albuterol inhalers.

According to FDA, CFC-free albuterol inhaler options include GlaxoSmithKline's Ventolin HFA, Schering Plough's Proventil HFA and Teva Specialty Pharmaceuticals' ProAir HFA. Sepracor's Xopenex HFA is also CFC-free, but it contains levalbuterol, a similar medication. Armstrong Pharmaceuticals is the only remaining maker of CFC inhalers; it is expected to stop production even before the deadline.