The filters of cigarette butts retain thousands of toxic substances: nicotine, heavy metals (mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic), hydrocyanic acid (used in the gas chambers during the Holocaust), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, even Polonium-210 (radioactive). If they are dumped on the ground they are washed into sewers and end up in rivers and oceans. Even if they reach landfills they are toxic to the environment. Cigarette butts are currently the world's leading waste, especially in the oceans.

Its composition includes non-biodegradable cellulose acetate, which can remain in the environment for up to 10 years, slowly releasing the toxic compounds it contains and contributing to the pollution of ecosystems. The World Health Organization has demonstrated their ineffectiveness in protecting the smoker's health (they are rather a marketing tool to create a false sense of security in the smoker). More efficient and biodegradable filters would reduce the impact on the environment and improve smokers' protection.

At present, cigarette butts that end up in the trash are considered "fraction rest" and go to the landfill, but due to their toxic nature they should not be treated as such. The products of this subject, toxic waste, are producer responsibility (Extended Producer Responsibility), regulated by the European Union, which currently only applies to electrical and electronic equipment, batteries and accumulators, vehicles, packaging, tires and mineral oils. Directive (EU) 2019/904, on reducing the impact of certain plastic products on the environment, states that "the enormous environmental impact caused by the waste generated by the consumption of tobacco products with plastic-containing filters, which are uncontrollably disposed of directly into the environment,must be reduced ".

On the other hand, it is possible to recycle the cellulose acetate from the filters into products from Degree industrial as plastic pallets.

Truthful information based on scientific evidence and the Education of society on environmental problems are tools core topic to make citizens aware that we need to change our model of life if we want to leave a bequest of hope on Earth for future generations.

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source:
Dr. Jesús Miguel Santamaría (Full Professor from Chemistry),
updated by E. Baquero on February 18, 2022