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Spatial and temporal variations of tobacco waste pollution in our cities

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Abstract

Cigarette butts are hazardous wastes which are usually littered by smokers and are among the most common litter in urban environments. Littered cigarette butts (LCBs) contain many pollutants that leak from it. This litter has adverse effects on the environment and is toxic to various organisms. This study aimed to investigate the quantity of littered cigarette butts at different times in different places in an urban environment. For this purpose, the cigarette butt pollution index was calculated using the assessed density of littered cigarette butts in the urban area. The findings indicated that the distribution of littered cigarette butts varies on different days and seasons in the investigated city. The average density of cigarette butts during the working days was 1.24 times higher than this amount during the weekends. The figure was 1.14 times higher in summer than winter. Furthermore, the distribution of littered cigarette butts was not the same in all parts of the city. The average density of cigarette butts in the commercial areas was 0.385 item/m2, while this amount was 0.005 item/m2 in the best location. The results suggest that 33% and %25 of the studied areas were in low and high pollution status, respectively, on summer working days. However, the index was considerably different during the weekends and in winter. Non-uniform distribution of littered cigarette butts in cities should be considered in cleanup planning in order to minimize cigarette butt pollution in urban environments.

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Funding

The authors received financial support given by the Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Mina Salehi Sedeh

  2. Environmental Science and Technology Research Center, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

    Mohammad Hasan Ehrampoush & Sahar Ghale Askari

  3. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

    Giti Kashi

  4. Water Purification Research Center, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

    Giti Kashi

  5. Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Ali Hosseinzadeh

Authors
  1. Mina Salehi Sedeh
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  2. Mohammad Hasan Ehrampoush
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  3. Giti Kashi
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  4. Ali Hosseinzadeh
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  5. Sahar Ghale Askari
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sahar Ghale Askari.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Responsible Editor: Amjad Kallel

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Salehi Sedeh, M., Ehrampoush, M.H., Kashi, G. et al. Spatial and temporal variations of tobacco waste pollution in our cities. Arab J Geosci 15, 1285 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-022-10538-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-022-10538-z

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