Smoke-free college campuses: no ifs, ands or toxic butts

Reduction of the environmental and health consequences of cigarette butt recycling by removal of toxic and carcinogenic compounds from its leachate

Cigarette butt is a hazardous waste, and its management faces many challenges. The generation of leachate containing many pollutants including heavy metals is one of the limitations of recycling cigarette butts. The aim of this study was to reduce organic compounds and heavy metals in leachate resulting from cigarette butt recycling in an electrocoagulation reactor. For this purpose, two samples, including freshly smoked cigarette butts and littered cigarette butts, were processed and the treatment of leachate resulting from them was studied in an electrocoagulation reactor. The efficiency of leachate treatment was investigated in the treatment time of 10-40 min and current intensity of 20-100 mA. The results showed that the minimum reduction of chemical oxygen demand and turbidity was 25.3% and 33.4%, respectively. Increasing the current intensity and treatment time increased the efficiency of removing turbidity and chemical oxygen demand up to 47.1% and 41.2%, respectively, in optimum conditions. The reduction of nickel, chromium, cadmium, and lead in the lowest current density and minimum treatment time was more than 90%, which increased to more than 99% with the increase of the current density and treatment time. The use of electrocoagulation is a suitable solution to reduce heavy metals in leachate resulting from cigarette butt recycling, while the proper reduction of organic compounds in this type of leachate requires further treatment processes.

Clean environment index: A new approach for litter assessment

Littered waste is one of the ubiquitous problems in urban environments. In this study, urban environmental pollution was evaluated for the first time using a new developed index. The findings indicated that cigarette butts with an average 58% are the largest share in the composition of littered waste. In addition, the numbers of littered wastes throughout the study area had a spatial variation. According to clean environment index (CEI), the entire study area was found to be in a moderate status. However, 40% of the study areas were classified in a dirty and extremely dirty status. Comparison of the studied urban land-uses showed that residential land use with CEI equal to 3.38 is interpreted in the clean status, while commercial land use with CEI equal to 15.05 can be classified in the dirty status. The application of CEI has a good capability to assess littered waste; this index can be employed to evaluate the pollution of urban sidewalks and other environments such as beaches.

The Development of a Web-Based Tobacco Tracker Tool to Crowdsource Campus Environmental Reports for Smoke and Tobacco-Free College Policies: Mixed Methods Study

BACKGROUND

College campuses in the United States have begun implementing smoke and tobacco-free policies to discourage the use of tobacco. Smoke and tobacco-free policies, however, are contingent upon effective policy enforcement.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to develop an empirically derived web-based tracking tool (Tracker) for crowdsourcing campus environmental reports of tobacco use and waste to support smoke and tobacco-free college policies.

METHODS

An exploratory sequential mixed methods approach was utilized to inform the development and evaluation of Tracker. In October 2018, three focus groups across 2 California universities were conducted and themes were analyzed, guiding Tracker development. After 1 year of implementation, users were asked in April 2020 to complete a survey about their experience.

RESULTS

In the focus groups, two major themes emerged: barriers and facilitators to tool utilization. Further Tracker development was guided by focus group input to address these barriers (eg, information, policing, and logistical concerns) and facilitators (eg, environmental motivators and positive reinforcement). Amongst 1163 Tracker reports, those who completed the user survey (n=316) reported that the top motivations for using the tool had been having a cleaner environment (212/316, 79%) and health concerns (185/316, 69%).

CONCLUSIONS

Environmental concerns, a motivator that emerged in focus groups, shaped Tracker's development and was cited by the majority of users surveyed as a top motivator for utilization.

Truth® ads, receptivity, and motivation to use or quit tobacco among college students

Objective: Examine receptivity and motivation to use/quit tobacco among college students after viewing Truth ads. Participants: Random sample of 10,000 college students invited to complete online survey February 2016 (8.5% response rate). Methods: Quasi-experimental. Participants (N = 854) watched four ads and answered survey items for each ad. Results: Students rated ad receptivity and decreased motivation to use tobacco higher for the Catmageddon ad than the others. Regardless of ad, men and current cigarette smokers reported lower receptivity. Younger age was associated with lower motivation to use tobacco for all ads. Tobacco users reported greater motivation to quit with the Catmageddon ad. Conclusions: College students were receptive to the Truth ads, and many indicated lower motivation to use tobacco. Men, older college students, and current cigarette smokers were less receptive to the ads, reinforcing the need to develop tailored campaigns to reach these subgroups.

Littered cigarette butt as a well-known hazardous waste: A comprehensive systematic review

Most of cigarettes used in the world have filters. Following smoking, the cigarette butts (CBs) are often littered as wastes in the environment. CBs generally contain several toxic substances that are trapped in the cigarette filter. Filters are made of non-biodegradable materials and remain in the environment for a long time. Within this study, it is attempted to systematically review the articles on CBs and find out the answers to the problems associated with the factors including quantity, distribution, origin and toxicity of CBs in the environment. It is estimated that approximately 5.5 trillion cigarettes are being produced annually in the world and the CB wastes would reach 1.2 million tons and increase by 50% until 2025. CBs contain thousands of dangerous chemicals such as arsenic, benzene, hydrogen cyanide, PAHs, pyridine, heavy metals and so forth. It is also believed that eachCB can pollute 1000 liters of water. Given the inadequacy of mechanical equipment as well as the cost of collecting these wastes, there should be a special focus on these items as follows: producing cigarettes with degradable filters, reducing the rate of smoking in the world, reducing the toxic and chemical substances in the process of plant growth, processing and production of cigarettes, training people to discard CBs properly, putting legal and financial pressures on cigarettes production, and the last but not least, providing effective solutions for collecting CBs.

Utilizing Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Video to Analyze Patterns of Secondhand Smoke Exposure on College Campuses

OBJECTIVE

Innovatively apply geographic information system (GIS) software and spatial video cameras to examine hotspots of smoking and secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure on a college campus.

PARTICIPANTS

Pedestrians on a large public university in the United States.

METHODS

Spatial video cameras mounted on bicycles and GIS software captured and analyzed smoking on campus. Data were collected during times of heavy pedestrian traffic. Hotspot locations with high concentrations of observed smoking were identified.

RESULTS

Using this innovative methodology, several hotspots were identified on campus where SHS exposure occurs frequently. These hotspots were in areas of high pedestrian traffic, thus indicating a potential for SHS exposure to many students.

CONCLUSIONS

This paper demonstrates an innovative application of GIS and spatial video technology to understand outdoor smoking patterns on campus. These techniques can aid in program planning, decision-making, policy development, and enforcement.

Comparing Two Observational Measures to Evaluate Compliance With Tobacco-Free Campus Policy

Despite potential benefits of tobacco-free campus policies, compliance remains a challenge. Observational measures hold the most promise in determining compliance with these policies. There is need for further study to determine validity of observational measures of compliance with tobacco-free campus policies. The purpose of this study was to determine the validity of two observational measures of compliance with a tobacco-free campus policy: direct observation of violators and cigarette butts. Data collection took place over a 1-year time period. Direct observation was operationally defined as the number of observed violators in hot spots. A cigarette butt protocol previously found to be reliable was used to count the number of butts in campus hot spots. Results indicated a positive relationship between number of violators observed per visit and number of cigarette butts collected. Although most of the hot spots exhibited two or fewer violators per visit and 100 butts or fewer per collection, the data points outside this range supported a positive association between observed violators per visit and cigarette butts. The findings support that direct observation of violators is a valid measure of compliance compared to cigarette butts. Given available resources, using one or the other as evaluation measures is warranted.