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Geographic patterns of cigarette butt waste in the urban environment

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Maacah Marah at San Diego State University
Maacah Marah
Thomas E Novotny at San Diego State University
Thomas E Novotny
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This reports the initial phase of a study to quantify the spatial pattern of cigarette butt waste in an urban environment. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was used to create a weighted overlay analysis model which was then applied to the locations of businesses where cigarettes are sold or are likely to be consumed and venues where higher concentrations of butts may be deposited. The model's utility was tested using a small-scale litter audit in three zip codes of San Diego, California. We found that cigarette butt waste is highly concentrated around businesses where cigarettes are sold or consumed. The mean number of butts for predicted high waste sites was 38.1 (SD 18.87), for predicted low waste sites mean 4.8 (SD 5.9), p<0.001. Cigarette butt waste is not uniformly distributed in the urban environment, its distribution is linked to locations and patterns of sales and consumption. A GIS and weighted overlay model may be a useful tool in predicting urban locations of greater and lesser amounts of cigarette butt waste. These data can in turn be used to develop economic cost studies and plan mitigation strategies in urban communities.
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... Studies have estimated cigarette butt litter to inform global economic costs [60], estimate clean-up costs in U.S. cities [47], evaluate environmental benefits of policies such as a menthol ban [61], and map cigarette butt litter within a single city [62,63]. These studies advance the methodological aspects of estimating cigarette butt litter including considerations of use prevalence and population information, and geographic information systems (GIS) approaches. ...
... They also inform efforts to address tobacco product waste. Cigarette butt litter is a putative environmental justice issue because littering tends to be higher near vendors [63], and tobacco vendors tend to be disproportionately concentrated in marginalized communities [25,27,64]. Any effort to understand environmental justice issues related to disposal of tobacco products needs to quantify tobacco product litter in the United States and map its distribution. ...
... This is unlikely, as both individual characteristics and environmental context are important factors determining littering behavior [37]. The model attributes littered butts to where people live, yet littering is often concentrated outside of places of work, schools, restaurants, or bars that may be in a different census tract than a person's residence [63,105,106]. This bias may be most evident in the~15% of census tracts designated as RUCA "commuter zones" where a considerable fraction of residents commute to other census tracts for work ( Table 2); commuting likely concentrates litter along roadways and near workplaces in urban areas. ...
Place-based estimates of cigarette butt litter raise environmental justice concerns in the United States
Article
Full-text available
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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... In the U.S., there are over 1.22 tobacco retailers (i.e., any type of store that sells tobacco, including convenience stores and tobacco shops) per every 1,000 persons [1]. Tobacco retailers provide access to tobacco products, expose passers-by to tobacco marketing, and accumulate tobacco litter [2][3][4]. Numerous studies demonstrate that youth and adults living in areas with a higher density of tobacco retailers have a higher likelihood of tobacco use [5][6][7][8][9][10] and a lower likelihood of cessation success [11][12][13][14][15]. Thus, the tobacco retailer Megan E. Roberts Roberts.1558@osu.edu To continue the adoption of policies such as TRLs, public awareness and support for a policy can be critical. ...
Community Awareness-Raising to Support Tobacco Policy: Results from an App-Based Photo-Mapping Activity with College Students
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2025
  • J COMMUN HEALTH
Background The tobacco retailer environment (TRE) harms communities, but the implementation of policies to address it have been slow and uneven and receive tepid public support. Objective To test whether a smartphone app’s photo-mapping activity could raise community awareness of the TRE. Methods This was a non-randomized study with a pre-post design. For three weeks, 75 university students engaged with the app, which incentivized participants to submit photos of significant aspects of tobacco in their environments (e.g., tobacco litter, tobacco retailers). Surveys administered before and after the app period assessed tobacco- and policy-related perceptions. Results Repeated-measures analyses indicated that, over the course of the study, participants increased in their awareness of tobacco advertising, awareness of tobacco litter, anti-tobacco industry attitudes, and support for an outdoor tobacco-free campus policy. Those most engaged in the study (as indicated by the total number of photo submissions) also increased in their attitudes about there being too many tobacco retailers. Conclusions Overall, findings suggest an app-based, photo-mapping activity could be an innovative means of directing people’s attention to the impact of the tobacco industry in their local community. Such activities could help increase public support for tobacco retailer licensing and other TRE-focused policies.
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... Many of these organizations detail their litter collection efforts in annual reports that describe the types of litter, where it is most abundant, how many volunteers were involved, and other information. Methods of TPW collection were summarized for each of these reports in order to understand the similarities, differences, and limitations of collection methods [28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. ...
Tobacco product waste cleanups and costs
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 2025
Tobacco Product Waste (TPW), which includes discarded cigarette butts, packaging materials, e-cigarette components, and other tobacco-related litter, is a growing environmental concern. TPW represents the most commonly littered waste item globally, yet its economic environmental impact is often underestimated. Discarded cigarette butts are not only a public nuisance; they release toxic chemicals and plastic into the environment, posing risks to ecosystems and human health. Cities have conducted litter audits to support TPW mitigation policies, including applying litter fees to tobacco products to offset cleanup costs. Such interventions can reduce tobacco product waste, particularly in communities and environmental settings most affected by tobacco use. Voluntary cleanups by communities, environmental advocacy organizations, and concerned citizens have emerged as a response to TPW. However, TPW cleanups currently lack standardized protocols, hindering effective monitoring and policy development. This study conducted a limited review of published reports and found that various non-profit organizations lack standardized data collection methods. To address this, we recommend a standardized approach that includes elements such as hours spent collecting TPW and number of volunteers involved, which can then be assigned a monetary value to the person-hours expended during these events. This proposed method makes it possible to estimate some of the negative economic externalities attributable to TPW pollution to order to inform policy and surveillance activities.
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... Littering behavior is another research topic that could be handled by human geographers. Cigarette butts are recognized as one of the most littered plastic-related item either in urban environment or in touristic destinations (Marah, Novotny, 2011). ...
Role of geography in plastic pollution research and social implications
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2024
This paper aims to reveal how geography interacts with plastic pollution research and current societal challenges while this emerging waste flow poses risks to a diverse range of ecosystems, geographical regions involving multiscale levels. The specific relations between major geographical branches (physical, human, environmental) are further investigated. Therefore, this paper points out the how geographical topics could be represented in the plastic pollution research related to natural features of a particular area (hydrology, geomorphology, natural hazards). Human geography dimension plays a key role in generating, composition and distribution of plastic waste flows by various generation source (residents, business, tourists) while the role of geographical inequalities, marginalized or remote communities need to be integrated in future plastic research. Environmental monitoring and waste management infrastructure disparities influence the plastic pollution levels from domestic sources while plastic waste trade requires an improved international cooperation. Therefore, various geographies and geographers around the world must be further involved in the plastic pollution research to provide a holistic framework research agenda of this global environmental and societal threat.
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... The survey-based findings of the present study partly align with a recent model that predicted the most exposure to cigarette litter in urban areas and within disadvantaged communities 7 . Earlier work reported that cigarette butts were more likely to be found close to businesses where cigarettes are sold and consumed 12 , and the density of tobacco retailers is greater within neighborhoods with larger racial/ethnic minority populations 7,13 . Also, groups that reported more tobacco litter exposure in this study, notably LGBTQ+ individuals, have been long targeted in pro-tobacco marketing 13 . ...
Inequitable exposure to tobacco product litter among adolescents in California, USA
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2025
INTRODUCTION Tobacco waste is a costly, widespread blight and environmental toxicant that is not distributed equally across geographical areas. This investigation reports on the prevalence of noticing tobacco litter and potential inequities in tobacco litter exposure among adolescents in California, USA. METHODS Data from the 2023 Teens, Nicotine, and Tobacco (TNT) Online Survey (N=4910), a statewide, online cross-sectional survey of California adolescents aged 12–17 years, were analyzed for the self-reported frequency of noticing tobacco product litter. All participants were asked to report how often they notice tobacco product litter (closed-ended response options: almost always, sometimes, once in a while, never). Survey-weighted multivariable regression models were fitted to quantify the odds of noticing tobacco litter ‘almost always’ according to participant characteristics (age, sex, gender/sexual identity, race/ethnicity, location, family finances, and own and household tobacco use). Data were weighted for geographical and demographic representativeness and response quality. RESULTS The prevalence of noticing tobacco litter almost always was 44.6% overall and higher among participants who identified as Hispanic/Latino (50.9%) or LGBTQ+ (53.3%), lived in a small town (57.8%), or whose families were financially disadvantaged (52.7%). These inequities persisted in multivariable models, including adjustment for own and household tobacco use. For example, Hispanic/Latino participants had 1.66-times the adjusted odds of almost always noticing tobacco litter (95% CI: 1.32–2.07; reference: non-Hispanic White); the adjusted odds ratio for LGBTQ+ identity was 1.39 (95% CI: 1.04–1.87; reference: non-LGBTQ+). CONCLUSIONS The pervasive exposure to tobacco litter observed in this study suggests a need for stronger efforts to reduce tobacco waste, with an emphasis on advancing equity.
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... We developed the collection protocol based on a review of previous tobacco product waste studies in urban and coastal areas [28][29][30][31] to establish reproducible methods for locating, identifying, and quantifying TEC waste across different urban environments. The complete protocol is available in the online supplemental material (S1 File) and addresses the following steps: 1) Training of staff and volunteers; 2) Employing tools and equipment for locating, identifying, and recording TEC waste; 3) Assessing safety and census block characteristics; 4) Determining boundaries and measuring areas to be surveyed; 5) Developing strategies to survey different types of surface areas; 6) Establishing guidelines for locating TEC waste in identified areas; 7) Developing guidelines for identifying and recording different types of TEC waste and their locations; 8) Establishing guidelines for quantifying the amount of TEC waste; and 9) Establishing guidelines for reporting TEC waste. ...
Estimating the accumulation and re-accumulation of commercial tobacco, electronic cigarette, and cannabis waste based on a stratified random sample of census blocks
Article
Full-text available
We investigated the amount and distribution of waste generated by commercial tobacco, electronic cigarette, and cannabis (TEC) use to inform policy options aimed at mitigating the environmental harm caused by these products. Using disproportionate stratified random sampling, we selected 60 census blocks from the eight largest cities in San Diego County, California. We twice surveyed publicly accessible areas in these blocks to quantify TEC waste accumulation and its re-accumulation. All collected items were photographed, classified, geocoded, counted, and properly discarded. We identified demographic, land use, and behavioral data from public sources and direct observations. We modeled total cigarette butt quantities for all census blocks across the eight cities and found similar results for Round 1 (8.63 million) and Round 2 (8.66 million) collections. Single-use plastic cigarette filters were the primary contributor to TEC waste (94%). Total TEC waste counts and cigarette butt counts showed strong linear associations (r = +0.86 and r = +0.91). The area surveyed, land use category, resident demographics, smoking prevalence, and walkability explained 78% of the variance in cigarette butt count. The interval between Round 1 and 2 counts did not affect re-accumulation counts, suggesting that baseline TEC waste levels were re-established within 1–2 months after cleanup. Annually, we estimate up to 200 million cellulose acetate plastic filters may be discarded in public areas of the eight cities. Given the continuous deposition, vast quantity, heterogeneous distribution, and rapid re-accumulation of TEC waste after cleanup, increasing removal efforts alone are financially untenable and impractical downstream solutions for TEC waste. Community-wide policies (e.g., filter bans, outdoor smoking restrictions) and individual behavior changes (e.g., reduced smoking rates, proper disposal of cigarette butts) are necessary to effectively mitigate the environmental impact of TEC waste in urban settings.
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... Although cigarette butts are small, they are considered harmful to the society and environment. Cigarette butts cause pollution as they are difficult to recycle and are often discarded; therefore, their collection and clean-up are difficult [2]. Cigarette butts are estimated to be the most discarded item in the world [3]. ...
Combustion Behavior of Cellulose Ester Fibrous Bundles from Used Cigarette Filters: Kinetic Analysis Study
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2024
This study is focused on the detailed examination of the combustion properties and kinetic analysis of a cellulose acetate fibrous bundle (CAFB), separated from used cigarette filters. It was shown that the faster rate of CAFB heating allows a large amount of heat to be supplied to a combustion system in the initial stages, where the increase in heating rate has a positive response to ignition behavior. The best combustion stability of CAFB is achieved at the lowest heating rate. Through the use of different kinetic methods, it was shown that combustion takes place through two series of consecutive reaction steps and one independent single-step reaction. By optimizing the kinetic parameters within the proposed reaction models, it was found that the steps related to the generation of levoglucosenone (LGO) (by catalytic dehydration of levoglucosan (LG)) and acrolein (by breakdown of glycerol during CAFB burning—which was carried out through glycerol adsorption on a TiO2 surface in a the developed dehydration mechanism) represent rate-controlling steps, which are strongly controlled by applied heating rate. Isothermal predictions have shown that CAFB manifests very good long-term stability at 60 °C (which corresponds to storage in a sea shipping container), while at 200 °C, it shows a sudden loss in thermal stability, which is related to the physical properties of the sample.
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Kentsel Alanlarda Sigara İzmariti Yoğunluğu ve Dağılımının Değerlendirilmesi: Kampüs Alanlarında Sigara İzmariti Kirlilik İndeksi Geliştirilmesi
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  • Nov 2024
Tütün kullanımı, yalnızca halk sağlığını değil, çevresel sürdürülebilirliği de tehdit eden önemli bir sorundur. Küresel sigara tüketimindeki artış, çevre kirliliğine ciddi katkıda bulunmakta ve sigara izmaritleri dünya genelinde en yaygın atık türlerinden biri haline gelmektedir. Biyolojik olarak parçalanamayan bu izmaritler, mikroplastik ve nanoplastiklerin birikimine yol açarak toprak ve su ekosistemlerine zarar vermektedir. Mevcut çalışmalarda genellikle sahil alanlarındaki izmarit miktarına odaklanılmıştır; ancak kentsel alanlardaki yoğunluk ve dağılım üzerine sınırlı sayıda araştırma yapılmıştır. Bu sorun, özellikle üniversite kampüslerinde daha belirgin hale gelmektedir. Gençlerin yoğun olduğu bu alanlarda sigara içme oranları yüksektir ve sigara izmaritlerinin çevreye atılması yaygın bir sorundur. Bu çalışma, üniversite kampüslerindeki sigara izmariti kirliliğini inceleyerek kirlilik indeksi oluşturmayı ve çevresel etkilerini azaltmak için hedeflenmiş önlemler önermeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışma bulguları, özellikle sınav dönemlerinde sigara izmariti yoğunluğunun arttığını ve kampüste "şiddetli kirlilik" seviyelerine ulaşıldığını göstermektedir. En yüksek kirlilik indeksi değerleri, derslikler ve sosyal alanlar gibi akran etkisinin belirgin olduğu bölgelerde gözlemlenmiştir. Ayrıca, izmaritlerin biyolojik olarak parçalanabilir olduğu yönündeki yanlış algı ve akran etkisi, bu kirlilik sorununu daha da derinleştirmektedir. Sonuç olarak, sigara izmariti kirliliğinin yönetimi için kampüslerde farkındalık artırıcı önlemler alınmalı, atık yönetimi stratejileri güçlendirilmelidir. Akran etkisi ve stresin sigara kullanımındaki rolünü azaltmaya yönelik eğitim ve bilinçlendirme kampanyaları da bu sorunun çözümünde önemli bir rol oynayacaktır
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Cigarette Butts as Litter—Toxic as Well as Ugly
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2000
Introduction Every beach-goer has seen them—cigarette butts littering the shore. Beyond being unsightly, does cigarette litter present a threat to organisms? This article summarizes research conducted to determine if the compounds in discarded cigarette butts (the filters and remnant tobacco) are biohazards to the water flea (Daphnia magna). Short-term bioassays (48 hours) using the water flea as the test organism were conducted. The results indicate that the chemicals released into freshwater environments from cigarette butts are lethal to Daphnia at concentrations of 0.125 cigarette butts per liter (one butt per two gallons of water). Smokers discard billions of cigarette butts yearly, tossing many directly into the environment. Cigarette butts accumulate outside of buildings, on parking lots and streets where they can be transported through storm drains to streams, rivers, and beaches. Some background on cigarettes 95% of cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, a plastic slow to degrade. Cellulose acetate fibers are thinner than sewing thread, white, and packed tightly together to create a filter; they can look like cotton. Cigarette filters are specifically designed to absorb vapors and to accumulate particulate smoke components. Cultivated tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum, is a member of the nightshade family of plants. It is a broadleaf native of tropical America cultivated as an annual. Cigarette filters may look like cotton, but are made of cellulose acetate, a plastic that is slow to degrade in the environment. Cigarette filters are specifically designed to accumulate particulate smoke components including toxic chemicals. Photo copyrighted by Chris Register.
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Origin and abundance of beach debris in the Balearic Islands
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2007
  • SCI MAR
The abundance, nature and possible sources of litter on 32 beaches on the Balearic Islands (Mediterranean Sea) were investigated in 2005. Mean summer abundances in the Balearics reached approximately 36 items m-1, with a corresponding weight of 32±25 g m-1, which is comparable to the results of other studies in the Mediterranean. Multivariate analyses (principal component analysis and redundancy analysis) confirmed strong similarities between islands and a statistically significant seasonal evolution of litter composition and abundance. In summer (the high tourist season), debris contamination expressed as item abundance was double that in the low season and showed a heterogeneous nature associated with beach use. Cigarette butts were the most abundant item, accounting for up to 46% of the objects observed in the high tourist season. In contrast, plastics related to personal hygiene/medical items were predominant in wintertime (67%) and natural wood was the most important debris by weight (75%). In both seasons, litter characteristics suggested a strong relationship with local land-based origins. While beach users were the main source of summer debris, low tourist season litter was primarily attributed to drainage and outfall systems.
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Quantification and Classification of Marine Litter on Beaches along Armação dos Búzios, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2007
Anthropogenic debris constitutes a significant threat to the marine environment, representing a hazard not only for marine and terrestrial animals but also for human activities, health, and tourism. This study provided the first assessment of the type and quantity of marine litter at Armacao dos Buzios, Brazil. Buzios is a popular tourist resort, which attracts visitors because of its proximity to Rio de Janeiro City. Sampling was conducted in belt transects of 4-m width, parallel to the coastline. To evaluate the composition and abundance of beach litter, all visible pieces of man-made debris (the number of items) found on each belt transect were identified in situ and recorded. Nearly 16,000 items of litter, belonging to seven categories were counted. An overall mean litter density of 13.76 items /100 m(2) was quantified on the Armacao dos Buzios beaches. Paper was the most abundant litter item, in particular, represented by cigarette butts. Much of the litter items are discarded by visitors to the beach. Nearshore, hard-bottom litter was also investigated at all beaches. Plastic was the most abundant submerged marine debris observed. Our results indicated that marine debris, particularly fishery-related debris (46% of marine litter) was most commonly found in the subtidal benthic environment. The abundance and distribution of litter through the Armacao dos Buzios region seems to be especially influenced by recreational visitors, reflecting inadequate disposal practices.
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Consumption and production waste: Another externality of tobacco use
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 1999
To describe the waste produced by and environmental implications of individual cigarette consumption (filter tips, packages, and cartons) and tobacco manufacturing. All available articles and reports published since 1970 related to cigarette consumption and production waste were reviewed. Global cigarette consumption data were used to estimate cigarette butt and packaging waste quantities. Data from the Center for Marine Conservation's International Coastal Cleanup Project were used to describe some environmental impacts of tobacco-related trash. Data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Toxics Release Inventory and reported global cigarette consumption totals were used to estimate waste production from cigarette manufacturing. In 1995, an estimated 5.535 trillion cigarettes (27,675 million cartons and 276,753 million packages) were sold by the tobacco industry globally. Some of the wastes from these products were properly deposited, but a large amount of tobacco consumption waste ends up in the environment. Some is recovered during environmental clean-up days. For the past eight years (1990-1997), cigarette butts have been the leading item found during the International Coastal Cleanup Project; they accounted for 19.1% of all items collected in 1997. The tobacco manufacturing process produces liquid, solid, and airborne waste. Among those wastes, some materials, including nicotine, are designated by the EPA as Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) chemicals. These are possible environmental health hazards. In 1995, the global tobacco industry produced an estimated 2262 million kilograms of manufacturing waste and 209 million kilograms of chemical waste. In addition, total nicotine waste produced in the manufacture of reduced nicotine cigarettes was estimated at 300 million kilograms. Laws against littering relative to cigarette butts could be better enforced. Additional taxes might be levied on cigarette products that would then be directed to environmental clean-up efforts. The tobacco industry should improve the biodegradability of filters, reduce packaging waste, and educate its customers. Worksites and public buildings should be encouraged or required to supply appropriate disposal mechanisms at all building entrances. Public awareness campaigns about the magnitude and prevention of cigarette consumption waste could be developed through partnerships among environmental groups, health organisations, and environmental protection agencies. Tobacco production waste should be a source of concern and regulation by governments throughout the world; it contains numerous chemicals which may be considered health hazards, not the least of which is nicotine produced in the manufacture of low-nicotine cigarettes.
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Variation in, and Causes of, Toxicity of Cigarette Butts to a Cladoceran and Microtox
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2006
Cigarette butts are the most numerically frequent form of litter in the world. In Australia alone, 24-32 billion cigarette butts are littered annually. Despite this littering, few studies have been undertaken to explore the toxicity of cigarette butts in aquatic ecosystems. The acute toxicity of 19 filtered cigarette types to Ceriodaphnia cf. dubia (48-hr EC50 (immobilization)) and Vibrio fischeri (30-min EC50 (bioluminescence)) was determined using leachates from artificially smoked cigarette butts. There was a 2.9- and 8-fold difference in toxicity between the least and most toxic cigarette butts to C. cf. dubia and V. fischeri, respectively. Overall, C. cf. dubia was more inherently sensitive than V. fischeri by a factor of approximately 15.4, and the interspecies relationship between C. cf. dubia and V. fischeri was poor (R(2) = 0.07). This poor relationship indicates that toxicity data for cigarette butts for one species could not predict or model the toxicity of cigarette butts to the other species. However, the order of the toxicity of leachates can be predicted. It was determined that organic compounds caused the majority of toxicity in the cigarette butt leachates. Of the 14 organic compounds identified, nicotine and ethylphenol were suspected to be the main causative toxicants. There was a strong relationship between toxicity and tar content and between toxicity and nicotine content for two of the three brands of cigarettes (R(2 )> 0.70) for C. cf. dubia and one brand for V. fischeri. However, when the cigarettes were pooled, the relationship was weak (R(2) < 0.40) for both test species. Brand affected the toxicity to both species but more so for V. fischeri.
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Photodegradation of cellulose acetate fibers
Article
  • Mar 1977
  • J Polymer Sci Polymer Chem Ed
The photodegradation of cellulose acetate fibers by ultraviolet light in vacuo at 77°K and at ambient temperature was studied. Three kinds of light sources with different wavelengths between 2353 and 6000 Å were employed. ESR studies at 77°K show that several kinds of free radicals are produced from cellulose diacetate (CDA) and cellulose triacetate (CTA) fibers when irradiated with light of wavelength shorter than 2800 Å. Among these methyl radicals formed decayed within 210 min at 77°K. When the temperature was raised above 77°K, radical transformation occurred at 87°K and most of the free radicals decayed at 193°K, whereas the cellulosic radicals were stable at this and even at higher temperatures. Ultraviolet spectroscopy studies revealed that the main chromophores are the carbonyl function of the acetyl group and acetal groups in the polymer. The photodegradation of the polymers at ambient temperature resulted in the formation of gaseous products (mainly CO, CO2, and CH4), together with the loss of bound acetic acid content and sample weight. Decreases in viscosity and reduction of tensile strength and elongation were also observed in the irradiated samples, revealing that the overt effects of ultraviolet light on cellulose acetate fibers are interpreted in terms of free-radical reactions ultimately leading to main-chain and side-group scissions, unsaturation, and the formation of small molecule fragments. Among these, main-chain scission took place predominantly in CDA fiber and side-group scission in CTA fiber. The mechanism of the fundamental photochemical degradation processes of cellulose acetate fibers is elucidated.
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Tobacco Outlook Report http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do? documentID¼1389
  • Oct 2007
  • Us Department
US Department of Agriculture. Tobacco Outlook Report. Economic Research Service, 2007. http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do? documentID¼1389 (accessed 24 Sep 2010).
San Diego Union Tribune Zip Code Chart. http://www.dqnews. com/Charts/Monthly-Charts/SDUT-Charts/ZIPSDUT.aspx (accessed 13):i42ei44. doi:10.1136/tc
  • Jan 2011
  • Data Quick
Data Quick News. San Diego Union Tribune Zip Code Chart. http://www.dqnews. com/Charts/Monthly-Charts/SDUT-Charts/ZIPSDUT.aspx (accessed 13 Dec 2010). i44 Tobacco Control 2011;20(Suppl 1):i42ei44. doi:10.1136/tc.2010.042424 Research paper
Tobacco Outlook Report. Economic Research Service
  • US Department of Agriculture
International Coastal Cleanup 2010 Report
  • Ocean Conservancy