Thomas E. Novotny, a professor of global health at San Diego State University, said that while no direct link had been demonstrated between littered cigarette butts and human health, the butts leach measurable amounts of cadmium, arsenic, lead and nicotine.
A single cigarette butt in a liter of water containing minnows is toxic enough to kill half of the fish within 96 hours, a standard toxicity test, according to an experiment featured in an article published in the journal Tobacco Control that Professor Novotny helped write.
“We can’t show that there’s actually human harm but we should look at it as a potential harm and prevent it from contaminating the environment,” said Professor Novotny.
