One cigarette butt pollutes up to 1000 liters of water
- In addition to the neurotoxin nicotine, arsenic, lead, chromium, copper, cadmium, formaldehyde, benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have also been found in cigarette butts.
- The neurotoxin nicotine is washed out of the filters and enters bodies of water, where it causes genetic and behavioral changes in fish and other aquatic life. Depending on the concentration, nicotine can even be fatal to fish.
Nicotine is toxic to humans and animals
- Toddlers put everything in their mouths - even cigarette butts that have been carelessly flicked onto the playground. Nicotine is one of the most common causes of poisoning in young children.
- The toxic substances are not only harmful in water, but are also a danger to animals on land: some birds use butts to build their nests, for example. Toxic substances such as nicotine, heavy metals, various insecticides and cyanide have been detected in birds' nests. These substances harm the animals and have a negative impact on the birds' reproduction.
- When animals eat the toxic butts, the residues ultimately end up on our plates via the food chain.
Filters turn into harmful microplastics
- Cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, a plastic that is difficult to break down - depending on the environment, it can take up to 15 years for them to decompose.
- Researchers have even found cellulose acetate particles from cigarette filters in pack ice in the Arctic.
- Cigarettes decompose into microplastics that end up in our waters. When marine creatures eat the particles, they can starve to death on a full stomach because the microplastics contain no nutrients.
- Researchers have detected cigarette residues in 70 percent of all seabirds and a third of all sea turtles.