Variation in, and Causes of, Toxicity of Cigarette Butts to a Cladoceran and Microtox

Abstract

Cigarette butts are the most numerically frequent form of litter in the world. In Australia alone, 24-32 billion cigarette butts are littered annually. Despite this littering, few studies have been undertaken to explore the toxicity of cigarette butts in aquatic ecosystems. The acute toxicity of 19 filtered cigarette types to Ceriodaphnia cf. dubia (48-hr EC50 (immobilization)) and Vibrio fischeri (30-min EC50 (bioluminescence)) was determined using leachates from artificially smoked cigarette butts. There was a 2.9- and 8-fold difference in toxicity between the least and most toxic cigarette butts to C. cf. dubia and V. fischeri, respectively. Overall, C. cf. dubia was more inherently sensitive than V. fischeri by a factor of approximately 15.4, and the interspecies relationship between C. cf. dubia and V. fischeri was poor (R(2) = 0.07). This poor relationship indicates that toxicity data for cigarette butts for one species could not predict or model the toxicity of cigarette butts to the other species. However, the order of the toxicity of leachates can be predicted. It was determined that organic compounds caused the majority of toxicity in the cigarette butt leachates. Of the 14 organic compounds identified, nicotine and ethylphenol were suspected to be the main causative toxicants. There was a strong relationship between toxicity and tar content and between toxicity and nicotine content for two of the three brands of cigarettes (R(2 )> 0.70) for C. cf. dubia and one brand for V. fischeri. However, when the cigarettes were pooled, the relationship was weak (R(2) < 0.40) for both test species. Brand affected the toxicity to both species but more so for V. fischeri.

Waste on the roadside, ‘poi-sute’ waste: Its distribution and elution potential of pollutants into environment

“…Cigarette butts, in particular, include toxic compounds, such as heavy metals, nicotine and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). 11,12 Heavy metals and nicotine contained in the solution obtained by an elution test of cigarette butts were then measured in order to determine the quantity of these compounds that diffused into the environment. Furthermore, the contents of heavy metals in cigarette butts (quantities of heavy metals extracted by 1N HCl solution) and those of PAHs (quantities of PAHs extracted by toluene/ethanol 9/1 solution) were also analyzed.…”

Cigarette Butt Waste and Its Effective Utilization towards Larvicidal Activity of Mosquito

“…(Rath et al, 2012).Aquatic ecosystems and organisms inhabiting that are harmed from the chemicals released from the tobacco of the cigarette butts thrown to it. (Slaughter et al, 2011;Moerman and Pott, 2011;Micevska et al, 2006).CBS extracts leachate may contain toxic metals such as arsenic, beryllium, lead, chromium, cadmium etc along with more than fifty cancer causing chemicals: polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons(PAH),N-Nitrosamins, Aromatic amines, Aldehydes, Benzene may inorganic compounds(Polonium-210).A comprehensive research work published by (Moerman and Pott, 2011) who pointed out that cigarette litter can act as point source for metal contamination. A data table (Table 1) has been supplied which indicate the leachable metalo from cigarette butts.…”

Tobacco Industry Wastewater–Induced Genotoxicity in Mice Using the Bone Marrow Micronucleus and Sperm Morphology Assays

“…However, the results of this study are in accordance with the reports of Sponza (2002), where tobacco wastewater was shown to be toxic in conventional short-term bioassays using floc forming, fecal and total coliforms and enrichment toxicity test. One laboratorybased study has shown that cigarette butt leachates can kill water fleas (Daphnia species) in relatively low concentrations (Micevska et al 2006). Slaughter et al (2011) demonstrated that the median lethal dose is approximately one cigarette butt per litre of water for both freshwater and saltwater test fish species.…”