Smoke them out! England has a ‘toxic timebomb’ of 2.4million dropped cigarette butts… that can take 14 years to break up, campaigners say
- Each cigarette butt, if left, can take 14 years to break apart and leach chemicals
- Smoking rates have fallen, but dropped butts are most common form of littering
- They account for two-thirds of all pieces of litter, data company Litterati says
England is facing a ‘toxic timebomb’ of cigarette butts – with 2.4million littered across high streets at any given moment.
Each one, if left, can take 14 years to break apart, leaching toxic chemicals including arsenic, lead, formaldehyde and nicotine into the earth and water courses – and leaving behind microplastics.
Smoking rates have fallen in recent years but dropping cigarette butts is still the most common form of littering – accounting for two-thirds of all pieces of litter, according to data company Litterati.
Allison Ogden-Newton of Keep Britain Tidy, which commissioned the research, said: ‘Every day, millions of cigarette butts are poisoning our environment, doing damage that can never be undone.’
The charity has now begun a campaign called Bin The Butt.
Each cigarette butt, if left, can take 14 years to break apart and leach toxic chemicals including arsenic, lead, formaldehyde and nicotine into the earth
Miss Ogden-Newton added: ‘Our environment cannot wait a day longer for us to tackle this toxic timebomb and we need to get the message across to smokers that each and every one of them has a role to play by doing the right thing – either binning their butt immediately or taking it with them if there is no bin available.’
Dr Dannielle Green, of Anglia Ruskin University, said: ‘We know that cigarette butts can affect the growth, behaviour and reproductive output of organisms in our ecosystems, and action needs to be taken to prevent further damage.’
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