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Time to kick the butt of the most common litter item in the world: Ban cigarette filters
journal contribution
posted on 2023-09-01, 15:11 authored by Dannielle S Green, Bethanie Carney Almroth, Rebecca Altman, Melanie Bergmann, Sedat Gündoğdu, Anish Kumar Warrier, Bas Boots, Tony R Walker, Anja Krieger, Kristian SybergCigarette filters offer no public health benefits, are single-use plastics (cellulose acetate) and are routinely littered. Filters account for a significant proportion of plastic litter worldwide, requiring considerable public funds to remove, and are a source of microplastics. Used cigarette filters can leech toxic chemicals and pose an ecological risk to both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Bottom-up measures, such as focusing on consumer behaviour, are ineffective and we need to impose top-down solutions (i.e., bans) if we are to reduce the prevalence of this number one litter item. Banning filters offers numerous ecological, socioeconomic, and public health benefits.
History
Refereed
- Yes
Volume
865Publication title
Science of the Total EnvironmentISSN
1879-1026External DOI
Publisher
ElsevierFile version
- Accepted version
Language
- eng