Research by scientists at San Diego State University found that cigarette butts are dangerous for fish yet these tiny pieces often end up as litter in most of our lakes ponds and rivers.
The study consisted of analyzing the effect of these litters on salt water fish and fresh water one. To be able to conclude the most harmful aspect this search, researcher divided the cigarettes in 3 categories:
ü Smoke cigarettes with a filter and tobacco residue.
ü Un-smoke cigarette filters without tobacco
ü smoke filters with no tobacco
The cigarettes butts were soaked in water for 24 hours with both saltwater fish and freshwater fish. It was found that the most dangerous one was smoked cigarettes with a filter and tobacco residue as 50 % of the fish placed in water died.
However, all three types of the cigarette were harmful to fish and contaminated the water. The study shows that the toxin in water is acutely present due to cigarette butts and represents a danger for marine life.
http://www.thirdage.com/news/cigarette-butts-harmful-to-fish-study-says_04-20-2011
