Researchers from the University of Gothenburg have called for the filters - one of the most common forms of litter - to be completely banned.
“The filter is full of thousands of toxic chemicals and microplastic fibres, so it’s not just any piece of plastic that’s being discarded into the environment. It’s hazardous waste,” says Bethanie Carney Almroth, professor of ecotoxicology at the University of Gothenburg.
The researchers tested the effects of the toxins that are found in the filter after smoking, as well as the substances that are in the filter from the start, on aquatic mosquito larvae. It turns out that the toxins lead to a 20 per cent higher mortality rate among mosquito larvae.
Previous research has shown that the toxins in the filters also have adverse effects on many other aquatic organisms. For example, fish can die if they are exposed to concentrations corresponding to the toxins exuded by barely two cigarette butts in one litre of water...