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Lowe AT, Maki A, Figueroa C, Venugopal PD. Place-based estimates of cigarette butt litter raise environmental justice concerns in the United States. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0308930. [PMID: 39146265 PMCID: PMC11326580 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0308930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2024] [Accepted: 08/02/2024] [Indexed: 08/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Littering of cigarette butts is a major environmental challenge. In 2022, ~124 billion cigarette butts were littered in the United States. This litter may pose an environmental justice concern by disproportionately affecting human and environmental health in communities of color or communities of low socioeconomic status. However, the lack of data on the distribution and magnitude of cigarette butt littering prevents an environmental justice analysis and limits the ability to tackle this environmental challenge. We conducted an environmental justice assessment of tobacco product waste, specifically cigarette butts, through spatially-explicit, place-based estimates across the contiguous U.S. We built a bottom-up model by synthesizing census tract-level population and smoking prevalence, state-level cigarette consumption, and published littering data to assess the spatial pattern of cigarette consumption and littering, and its implications for environmental injustice in >71,600 U.S. census tracts. Further, we compared the model output to urbanicity (rural-urban commuting area) and Social-Environmental Risk (SER; CDC Environmental Justice Index). Cigarette butt density was not uniformly distributed across the U.S. and ranged from 0-45.5 butts/m2, with an area-weighted average of 0.019 ± 0.0005 butts/m2. Cigarette butt density was 96 times higher in metropolitan vs. rural areas. Cigarette butt density increased significantly with SER, with 5.6 times more littered cigarette butts, and a steeper response to population density, in census tracts with the highest SER vs. the lowest SER. These results demonstrate the relative influences of location, smoking prevalence, and population density, and show that cigarette butt littering is a potential environmental justice concern in the U.S. This study provides information that may help devise targeted strategies to reduce cigarette butt pollution and prevent disproportionate impacts. The spatial data layer with place-based cigarette consumption and butt density is a tool that can support municipal, state, and federal level policy work and future studies on associations among cigarette butt pollution and environmental health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander T Lowe
- Division of Nonclinical Science, Center for Tobacco Products, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, United States of America
| | - Alexander Maki
- Division of Population Health Science, Center for Tobacco Products, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, United States of America
| | - Carla Figueroa
- Division of Nonclinical Science, Center for Tobacco Products, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, United States of America
| | - P Dilip Venugopal
- Division of Nonclinical Science, Center for Tobacco Products, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, United States of America
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Smith TT, McClure EA, Halpern-Felsher B. Introduction to special issue of addictive behaviors: Tobacco regulatory science. Addict Behav 2023; 142:107671. [PMID: 36905899 DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2023.107671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Tracy T Smith
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina and Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, United States; Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, United States
| | - Erin A McClure
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina and Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, United States; Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina, United States
| | - Bonnie Halpern-Felsher
- REACH Lab, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, United States.
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Bettencourt S, Freitas DN, Lucas C, Costa S, Caeiro S. Marine litter education: From awareness to action. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2023; 192:114963. [PMID: 37201345 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2023] [Revised: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 04/15/2023] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Marine litter is a global problem. Education has been acclaimed as a potential tool to tackle this issue, yet, integrative, student-centered, and over weeks studies to raise awareness on the theme that compares pre- with post-intervention results are limited in the literature. Furthermore, almost no studies rely on the basis of previous experience on the theme and local reality. This paper presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of an educational intervention to raise awareness and educate students (1st cycle to high-school) about marine litter. Different learning skills were fostered through theoretical, laboratorial, and hands-on activities and students participated in a beach clean-up to summarize the classroom's learnings in loco. Pre- and post-questionnaire results indicate that students' knowledge, perceptions, and behavioral intentions changed. Identification of marine litter estimated degradation times and observation of microplastics in local sand samples were activities highly appreciated by youngsters. This intervention positively impacted schoolchildren's literacy, contributing to advancing education in marine litter and can be further adapted to other educational areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Bettencourt
- Center for Global Studies, Department of Science and Technology, Portuguese Distance Learning University, Lisbon, Portugal; CENSE Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research, CHANGE-Global Change and Sustainability Institute, School of Science and Technology, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Lisbon, Portugal; MARE-Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre/ARNET-Aquatic Research Network, ARDITI Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation, Madeira, Portugal; OOM-Oceanic Observatory of Madeira, ARDITI-Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation, Madeira, Portugal.
| | - Diogo Nuno Freitas
- ITI/LARSyS/M-ITI-Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute, Madeira, Portugal; NOVA LINCS NOVA Laboratory for Computer Science and Informatics, Lisbon, Portugal; Faculty of Exact Sciences and Engineering, University of Madeira, Madeira, Portugal
| | - Carlos Lucas
- OOM-Oceanic Observatory of Madeira, ARDITI-Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation, Madeira, Portugal
| | - Sónia Costa
- MARE-Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre/ARNET-Aquatic Research Network, ARDITI Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation, Madeira, Portugal; OOM-Oceanic Observatory of Madeira, ARDITI-Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation, Madeira, Portugal
| | - Sandra Caeiro
- Center for Global Studies, Department of Science and Technology, Portuguese Distance Learning University, Lisbon, Portugal; CENSE Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research, CHANGE-Global Change and Sustainability Institute, School of Science and Technology, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Lisbon, Portugal
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Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behaviors about Cigarette-Butt Littering among College-Aged Adults in the United States. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19138085. [PMID: 35805745 PMCID: PMC9265565 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19138085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Revised: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 06/25/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
This study reports attitudes, beliefs, and littering behaviors of 7532 college-aged cigarette smokers from across the United States. Four behavioral variables were measured: littering of last cigarette butt, number of butts littered in past 24 h, littering in past month, and ever having littered. Questions about beliefs centered on whether cigarette butts are biodegradable, if butts were harmful to the environment, and if butts are considered to be litter. One attitudinal question focused on whether seeing butts on the ground was bothersome. Littering was most likely among people who believed butts were biodegradable, believed they are not harmful to the environment, do not believe butts are litter, and among those with the attitude that littered butts are not bothersome. Logistic regression analyses found that the strongest influence on littering behavior was the attitude that seeing butts was bothersome. The second-strongest driver was the belief that butts are litter.
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