BeachPatrol Library

Wednesday, 20 April 2016 1:09:42 AM
Consequences of Cigarette Butt Waste and Litter-Reducing methods

High death rates from lung cancer and other illnesses associated with cigarette smoke

have prompted greater efforts to keep communities informed of the harmful consequences of

tobacco use. 


We picked up hundreds of littered cigarette butts, but I wondered what would have

happened to them if they had been left on the ground. Would they have just disappeared under

layers of soil and eventually disintegrate? Would the chemicals in the cigarettes persist and be

potentially toxic? And why do smokers discard their cigarettes on the ground instead of

appropriate ashtrays?


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