Chemical contents and toxicity of cigarette butts leachates in aquatic environment: A case study from the Persian Gulf region, By Amir Vazirizadeh

Research

Title	Chemical contents and toxicity of cigarette butts leachates in aquatic environment: A case study from the Persian Gulf region
Type	Article
Keywords	Aquatic organisms,Cigarette butts,Periophthalmus waltoni
Journal	CHEMOSPHERE
DOI	10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137049
Researchers	Farshid Soleimani (First researcher) , Amir Vazirizadeh (Third researcher) , Gholamhossein Mohebbi (Fourth researcher) , Bahman Ramavandi (Fifth researcher) , Gabriel E.De-La-Torre (Not in first six researchers) , Iraj Nabipour (Not in first six researchers) , Torsten C. Schmidt (Not in first six researchers) , Thomas E. Novotny (Not in first six researchers) , Zahra Kordrostami (Not in first six researchers)

Abstract

Cigarette butts (CBs) are one of the most commonly found types of litter contaminating the aquatic environment.However, the environmental risks posed by CBs need further investigation. In this study, the in-vivo toxic effects of various concentrations of CB leachates on juvenile (5.45 ± 1.36 gr and 7.08 ± 1.12 cm) fish (Periophthalmus waltoni) were evaluated. The LC50 values of CB leachate from smoked cigarette butts with tobacco (SCB) were 3.75, 3.0, 1.94, and 1.37 CBs/L in 24, 48, 72, and 96 h exposure times, respectively. The LC50 values for leachate of smoked CBs without tobacco (SF) were 7.58, 6.22, 4.73, and 2.9 CBs/L at 24, 48, 72, and 96 h exposure times,respectively. In the case of leachate from unsmoked filters (USF), LC50 values were 14.68, 12.44, 10.19, and 7.46 CBs/L in 24, 48, 72, and 96 h exposure time, respectively. The mean concentrations of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in SCBs leachates were higher than in SF and USF leachates. Our findings report that even low concentrations of CBs leachates can led to lethality of P. waltoni and may pose a threat to their population density.