FACT AND FIGURES
No butts, they’re poison
The chemicals in a dog-end damage the environment.
Every day, smokers in the UK throw away about 200 million butts. These are made up of cellulose acetate and take up to 12 years to biodegrade 1. Added to the 4000 chemicals found in butts, including hydrogen, cyanide and arsenic, it is no surprise that these are also an environmental problem.
Chemicals in cigarette butts harm marine life as these chemicals are flushed into waterways. Studies show that within an hour these chemicals present a biohazard at concentrations of just one butt in nine litres of water, killing water fleas, an essential part of the aquatic food chain. At higher levels, fish are affected. 2