Cigarette as Litter

Cigarretes butts are a type of Litter that causes Land pollution

Cigarretes Litter and environment

Cigarette butts getting littered almost everywhere and are also almost found everywhere. Cigarettes are the most littered item on earth. Worldwide, about 4,5 trillion cigarettes are littered each year. Cigarettes make up more than one-third of all collected litter. Disposing of cigarettes on the ground or out of a car is very common and 75% of all smokers report doing it. It is more socially excepted to litter cigarettes than it is to litter plastic even though cigarettes have massive impacts on the environment for multiple reasons.

The toxicity of cigarettes

Cigarettes leach toxic chemicals such as arsenic which is also used to kill rats and lead which is known for its toxicity into the environment this contaminates the water. The toxic exposure can poison fish as well as animals who eat cigarette butts thinking it is food. The filter of a cigarette is made of 98% Plastic fibres that are tightly packed together. These plastic fibres are non-biodegradable meaning they won't organically break down from living organisms. Although cigarettes do not biodegrade they can gradually decompose depending on environmental conditions like rain and sun. A study found that a cigarette butt was only about 38% decomposed after two years. This leads to more Microplastics in the environment and eventually in our drinking water and food.

Source

• Truth initiative about cigarette litter