The disposed cigarette filters are a major hazard, releases trapped nicotine, tar, toxic chemicals into river streams.

Is mother earth being rained upon by over two billion new cigarette butts each day? Although accurate butt facts are rare, that’s an average of less than two cigarette butts daily from each of earth's 1.2 billion smokers. Look closely at the ground at any intersection. They’re everywhere!

The cigarette butts are a common scene in the world except maybe in Singapore where it is a punishable offense for littering. The Cigarette filters supposedly were made to minimize nicotine causes another major problem, they are not biodegradable. Each cigarette filters are composed of 12,000 plastic like cellulose acetate fibers. It takes about 15 years for the fibers to decay into a plastic powder that can’t be seen. When they do decay they release the deadly cargo, nicotine they trap the first time.

The amount of nicotine, 50 to 60 milligrams trapped inside 200 used filters are sufficient to kill an adult human. When there is a rain, they wash away all these nicotine into streams and rivers which becomes harmful if humans drink that water. Aquatic life takes a major beating with deadly consequences if they mistake them for food. Nicotine as well as tars and toxic gases, that is inside these filters, run into waterways.

Tar refers to the more than three thousand five hundred chemical particles and five hundred gases generated by each burning cigarette that include arsenic, vinyl chloride, acetone, mercury and lead. The filters may minimize the damage for the smokers, but they trap half the tar and captures one third of formaldehyde and two thirds of its hydrogen cyanide. All these are released into the water stream.

John R. Polito maintains one of the highways roadside and finds 80% of the littered items are filled with cigarette butts or cigarette packages. Most of the littering go unpunished, if the Police officers are smokers themselves, they wouldn’t punish those who litter.

The entire world turns its collective head while mother earth serves as one big ashtray for over 700 billion new littered butts each year. Polito asks if they are left unpunished it will send a wrong message to children who will do the same in the future. He recommends strong laws be enforced to prevent such littering.

He advises the smokers not to trash it everywhere, put them in the car ash trays and dispose along with other garbage. If you try to pick up those filters, make sure you wear a glove and don’t inhale those toxic fumes.

Near my area in the sidewalks it is a big mess, there are too many filters lying around and most of them near the drainage which go to the nearby streams. I hope they stop smoking all together, where is the high when it causes so much damage to them and the environment?

Not only the cigarette filters are a major litter problem, also the other trash one sees in highway and in some cities where people are reckless and throw trash everywhere.

Do you find similar problems near your area?