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Tobacco product waste wreaks havoc on our environment

Here’s what we all know too well: The manipulative, racist, and greedy tobacco industry is destroying the health of people we love. Their products, when used as intended, kill and cause disease. And the industry’s products not only destroy the health of the people who use them but put us all at risk of toxic exposure to secondhand smoke, which causes thousands of Californian deaths each year.1

Here’s what the tobacco industry doesn’t want us to know: They are a top global plastic polluter whose production and manufacturing directly contribute to climate change and deforestation.23  And the toxic chemicals in their products officially put them in the category of “toxic waste” and make them nearly impossible to dispose of safely.456789

The tobacco industry produces about 6 trillion cigarettes – each year.10 As a result, cigarette butts are the number one most littered item on Earth.11 Number one here in California too – by far. Each filter is made of 15,000 strands of microplastic fibers.12 Microplastics pollute our food, water, and air.131415 And because they are made of plastic, they can take years to decompose, which leaves behind mountains of accumulating toxic microplastics to pollute our environment that could make their way inside of us.16 Butts also are packed with toxic chemicals, like arsenic and lead, that seep into our environment and threaten our oceans and wildlife as they lay discarded on the ground.17

The tobacco industry takes zero responsibility for the unchecked amounts of toxic waste dumped into our environment. Their own internal documents show the lies and PR spin they’ve used to cover up their pollution with the hope that we put the blame on their customers for littering and allow them to avoid any environmental regulation.18192021 This lack of accountability is at the expense of $41 million California taxpayer dollars each year.22

And here’s the kicker: The industry’s new vapes that have caused a youth vaping epidemic – they have all the same environmental problems as cigarette butts – plastic pollution and toxic chemicals leaking into the environment.2324 Plus, because they’re electronic devices, they leave behind electronic waste, which is notoriously difficult and costly to dispose of.2526

Bottom line: No one, and no place, is safe from Big Tobacco.

OUR CAMPAIGNS

The Little Big Lie

Cigarette butts are made of microplastics – tiny toxic fibers that pollute our environment and could harm us all.291232

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Relevant content and resources

Tobacco industry’s damage

The tobacco industry currently spends billions each year on slick marketing tactics and political influence so they can profit off death and disease.2728
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Even for people who don’t use tobacco, there can be deadly consequences.29
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The industry calls kids their “replacement customers.”30 Big Tobacco sentences them to a lifetime of addiction and disease.
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This racist and unjust industry has strategically targeted certain communities with deadly products and manipulative messaging.31
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No one’s safe from the environmental damage and health risks from toxic tobacco waste and its plastic pollution.2123233343436
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lady in a garden wearing a head scarf

Hold the industry accountable

California has already protected people from other harmful products, and it’s time to hold the tobacco industry to the same standards.3738
Raise your voice against the tobacco industry
  1. California Environmental Protection Agency. Proposed Identification of Environmental Tobacco Smoke as a Toxic Air Contaminant. Sacramento, CA: California Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment; 2005.
  2. Break Free From Plastic. Branded Vol. III: Demanding corporate accountability for plastic pollution. 2020
  3. World Health Organization. Tobacco and its environmental impact: an overview. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2017.
  4. Environmental Protection Agency (1980). CFR §261.33 Discarded commercial chemical products, off-specification species, container residues, and spill residues thereof.
  5. Hendlin YH. Alert: Public Health Implications of Electronic Cigarette Waste. Am J Public Health. 2018;108(11):1489-1490. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2018.304699.
  6. Novotny TE, Slaughter E. Tobacco Product Waste: An Environmental Approach to Reduce Tobacco Consumption. Curr Environ Health Rep. 2014;1(3):208-216. Published 2014 May 6. doi:10.1007/s40572-014-0016-x.
  7. Krause MJ, Townsend TG. Hazardous waste status of discarded electronic cigarettes. Waste Manag. 2015;39:57-62. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2015.02.005.
  8. Hendlin YH. E-cigarettes and a new threat: How to dispose of them [blog]. The Conversation. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/e-cigarettes-and-new-threat-how-dispose-them. Published October 23, 2018. Accessed July 7, 2020.
  9. Slaughter E, Gersberg RM, Watanabe K, Rudolph J, Stransky C, Novotny TE. Toxicity of cigarette butts, and their chemical components, to marine and freshwater fish [published correction appears in Tob Control. 2011 Nov;20(6):418]. Tob Control. 2011;20 Suppl 1(Suppl_1):i25-i29. doi:10.1136/tc.2010.040170.
  10. Novotny TE, Slaughter E. Tobacco Product Waste: An Environmental Approach to Reduce Tobacco Consumption. Curr Environ Health Rep. 2014;1(3):208-216. Published 2014 May 6. doi:10.1007/s40572-014-0016-x.
  11. Ocean Conservancy, International Coastal Cleanup. We Clean On, 2021 report. Washington, DC: Ocean Conservatory, International Coastal Cleanup; 2021.
  12. Belzagui F, Buscio V, Gutiérrez-Bouzán C, Vilaseca M. Cigarette butts as a microfiber source with a microplastic level of concern. Science of The Total Environment. 2021;762:144165. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144165.
  13. Rochman CM, Tahir A, Williams SL, et al. Anthropogenic debris in seafood: Plastic debris and fibers from textiles in fish and bivalves sold for human consumption. Sci Rep. 2015;5:14340. doi:10.1038/srep14340.
  14. Choy CA, Robison BH, Gagne TO et al. The vertical distribution and biological transport of marine microplastics across the epipelagic and mesopelagic water column. Sci Rep. 2019;9:7843. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44117-2.
  15. Prata JC. Airborne microplastics: Consequences to human health?. Environ Pollut. 2018;234:115-126. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2017.11.043.
  16. UC Berkeley, University Health Services. Facts about cigarette butts and smoke. uhs.berkeley.edu. https://uhs.berkeley.edu/tobaccofacts Accessed February 25, 2022.
  17. Novotny TE, Bialous SA, Burt L, et al. The environmental and health impacts of tobacco agriculture, cigarette manufacture and consumption. Bull World Health Organ. 2015;93(12):877-880. doi:10.2471/blt.15.152744.
  18. Whitt DD. Beach Anti-Litter Program. Expansion of Daytona Beach Program. RJ Reynolds Records; Master Settlement Agreement. 1991 May 06. https://www.industrydocuments.ucsf.edu/docs/lxfb0082.
  19. Litter (A Proposal For TI Policy). RJ Reynolds Records; Master Settlement Agreement. 1979 March 26. https://www.industrydocuments.ucsf.edu/docs/yzdk0016.
  20. Smith EA, McDaniel PA. Covering their Butts: Responses to the Cigarette Litter Problem. Tob Control. 2011;20(2):100. doi:10.1136/TC.2010.036491.Smith EA, McDaniel PA. Covering their Butts: Responses to the Cigarette Litter Problem. Tob Control. 2011;20(2):100. doi:10.1136/TC.2010.036491.
  21. Smith EA, Novotny TE. Whose butt is it? tobacco industry research about smokers and cigarette butt waste. Tob Control. 2011;20 Suppl 1(Suppl_1):i2-i9. doi:10.1136/tc.2010.040105.
  22. Martinez C. No ifs, ands or butts: California bill would ban single-use smoking products like cigarette filters. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-01-25/california-bill-would-ban-single-use-cigarette-filters. Pubished January 25, 2022.
  23. Krause MJ, Townsend TG. Hazardous waste status of discarded electronic cigarettes. Waste Manag. 2015;39:57-62. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2015.02.005.
  24. Environmental Protection Agency (1980). CFR §261.33 Discarded commercial chemical products, off-specification species, container residues, and spill residues thereof. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2012-title40-vol27/pdf/CFR-2012-title40-vol27-sec261-33.pdf.
  25. Hendlin YH. E-cigarettes and a new threat: How to dispose of them [blog]. The Conversation. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/e-cigarettes-and-new-threat-how-dispose-them. Published October 23, 2018. Accessed July 7, 2020.
  26. Seeberger J, Grandhi R, Kim SS, et al. Special Report: E-Waste Management in the United States and Public Health Implications. J Environ Health. 2016;79(3):8-16.
  27. Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission Cigarette Report for 2020. Washington, D.C.: Federal Trade Commission. 2021.
  28. OpenSecrets. Industry Profile: Tobacco. Opensecrets.org. https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/industries/summary?cycle=2021&id=A02. Accessed March 16, 2022.
  29. Office on Smoking and Health (US). The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US); 2006.
  30. RJ Reynolds. Younger Adult Smokers: Strategies and Opportunities. https://www.industrydocuments.ucsf.edu/docs/rkvk0045. 1984 February 29.
  31. Anderson SJ. Marketing of menthol cigarettes and consumer perceptions: a review of tobacco industry documents. Tob Control. 2011;20 Suppl 2(Suppl_2):ii20-ii28. doi:10.1136/tc.2010.041939.
  32. Poma A, Vecchiotti G, Colafarina S, et al. In Vitro Genotoxicity of Polystyrene Nanoparticles on the Human Fibroblast Hs27 Cell Line. Nanomaterials (Basel). 2019;9(9):1299. Published 2019 Sep 11. doi:10.3390/nano9091299.
  33. Zarus GM, Muianga C, Hunter CM, Pappas RS. A review of data for quantifying human exposures to micro and nanoplastics and potential health risks. Sci Total Environ. 2021;756:144010. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144010.
  34. Jacob H, Besson M, Swarzenski PW, Lecchini D, Metian M. Effects of Virgin Micro- and Nanoplastics on Fish: Trends, Meta-Analysis, and Perspectives. Environ Sci Technol. 2020;54(8):4733-4745. doi:10.1021/acs.est.9b05995.
  35. Ziv-Gal A, Flaws JA. Evidence for bisphenol A-induced female infertility: a review (2007-2016). Fertil Steril. 2016;106(4):827-856.
  36. Campanale C, Massarelli C, Savino I, Locaputo V, Uricchio VF. A Detailed Review Study on Potential Effects of Microplastics and Additives of Concern on Human Health. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(4):1212. Published 2020 Feb 13. doi:10.3390/ijerph17041212.
  37. Governor Newsom Signs Legislation Making California First in the Nation to Ban Toxic Chemicals in Cosmetics [press release]. gov.ca.gov. https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/09/30/governor-newsom-signs-legislation-making-california-first-in-the-nation-to-ban-toxic-chemicals-in-cosmetics/. Published September 30, 2020. Accessed March 23, 2022.
  38. Landmark California law bans 'forever chemicals' in products for infants, children [press release]. ewg.org. https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2021/10/landmark-california-law-bans-forever-chemicals-products-infants. Published October 5, 2021. Accessed March 23, 2022.