BUFFALO, N.Y. — Four-and-a-half trillion — that’s how many cigarette butts are just thrown on the ground a year, according to the World Health Organization. You might think they break down, but they’re not biodegradable.
In fact, some parts of that cigarette butt never go away. We’re talking about microplastics and leaching chemicals. It's something to think about the next time you’re enjoying the beach or the boat.
Water so clear, it offers a unique look under the surface. Then there’s Jenna Brinkworth's liter bottle of cigarettes in water.
“Probably took me about 20 minutes to pick up all these cigarette butts, and they've been in here for probably six months,” said Brinkworth, community engagement manager for Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Brinkworth says it’s not just the leaching chemicals that are cause for concern.
“They don't just disappear, they're not just made of paper and they are impacting our water and our soil,” Brinkworth said.
Research Scientist Michelle Page’s studies focus on the impact filters have on humans and the environment.
“How filters are trapping these chemicals, and then subsequently what is released from these filters when they are submerged in water,” Page said.
In the lab, they can generate cigarettes and smoking patterns to generate the waste.
“We submerged it in water and we can measure at various time points, so after a day, a week, up to four weeks, even up to eight weeks, looking at what chemicals actually are in the water as a result of the cigarette waste,” Page said.
Page says carcinogenic materials can release as quickly as a day.
“Heavier ones more related to like the burning characteristics that happen with cigarettes and the smoke they can release, much later,” Page said. “So after four weeks, eight weeks, even 12 weeks of exposure.”
Page says they’re still learning what this means on a larger scale.
“There are some lab experiments that have shown that as little as a single filtered cigarette in about the same amount of water as a standard drinking water bottle can be toxic to aquatic life,” Page said.
Page says other studies have suggested they’re toxic birds. Some include them in their nests. Then there are vaping devices.
“We measured higher levels of nicotine in the water,” Page said. “Nicotine is very, very, toxic to aquatic life. And the other thing is, these all contain lithium batteries.”
Then there are microplastics.
“Microplastics. We're just starting to understand the human relevance for when you're ingesting these particles,” Page explained.
Brinkworth says they’re not telling people to stop smoking. But maybe there are a few people out there who might use this as motivation.
“Maybe be a motivator to say, 'hey, I really want to do the right thing for the environment,'” Brinkworth said.
Brinkworth says 600 million trees are cut down each year to make cigarettes. It takes one tree to make 15 packs of cigarettes. You can find more information at Tobacco Stops With Me and Truth Initiative.
Is the tobacco industry trying to find a solution? Yes. According to the National Library of Medicine, in the 1990s, market research showed that one day there would be a concern. Fast forward to the early 2000s, and Phillip Morris, a multinational tobacco company, after doing its own research, started encouraging smokers to be more conscious.
They even became a major supporter of the Keep America Beautiful Campaign. It’s a non-profit which encourages responsibility for proper butt disposal. A biotech company has developed a corn-starch-based filter and has a company working on developing and testing for possible widespread adoption.