Re “Treat cigarette butts as toxic waste, not trash” (July 14): Cigarette butts are cellulose acetate filters that break down into microplastics while leaching nicotine, arsenic, lead, cadmium and carcinogens into waterways. Studies show even one butt soaked in a liter of water can kill fish within 24 to 96 hours. Toxins can affect the nervous systems, reproduction and growth of fish, invertebrates and other aquatic organisms. The damage extends through the food chain as marine animals mistake butts for food or ingest fibers that persist in sediment and water. Smokeless tobacco releases toxic compounds and metals, while e-cigarettes add hazardous lithium-ion batteries, circuit boards, and plastic casings to the ocean debris stream.
Policymakers should require Extended Producer Responsibility fees, a phase-out of cellulose acetate filters and mandated take-back programs for electronic nicotine products. The companies profiting from tobacco must pay for the toxic waste that pollutes our oceans.
— Ronald Askeland, Rancho Peñasquitos