Environmental pollutant Butts (cigarette residues: filters), also called fourth-hand tobacco, constitute an important source of environmental pollutant since they contain toxins that can leak into the soil and water (pesticides, nicotine, cotinine, tar, carcinogens, metals, ethyl -phenol, ethylene glycol, menthol and rare earth elements, constituting the so-called emerging pollutants [which are already recognized as a global phenomenon]) characterized by their slow degradation.3,15 To conclude, there is evidence that cigarette filters do more harm than good
Burning Deck, Providence, R.I., 1977
CADMIUM IN CIGARETTES 4
For years, your hands knew exactly what to do: reach, hold, puff, repeat
The study paints an ugly picture of the sheer quantity of litter that ends up along roads and urban curbs in a throwaway society