Member

Cigarette stubs can take about 14 years to degrade in the marine environment, so it is unpleasant to swim around Stokes bay, at the end of my road, among little pieces of discoloured plastic. The bigger threat, though, is to the environment. One cigarette butt left to soak in water for 96 hours will release enough toxins to kill half the saltwater or freshwater fish that are exposed to it, and 40% of the chemicals contained in cigarette butt leachate have been found to be either toxic or very toxic to marine life. There is even a chance that the slow degradation of plastic butts is contributing to the rise in the microplastics increasingly found in the human body.