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Global Health Perspectives on Cigarette Butts and the Environment

Cigarette butts, which are also known as tobacco product waste (TPW), are the single most collected item in environmental trash cleanups worldwide. This study used an online survey tool (Qualtrics) to assess knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions regarding this issue among individuals representing th...

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Autores principales: Stigler Granados, Paula, Fulton, Lawrence, Nunez Patlan, Evangelina, Terzyk, Mischa, Novotny, Thomas E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6572616/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31130709
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16101858
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author Stigler Granados, Paula
Fulton, Lawrence
Nunez Patlan, Evangelina
Terzyk, Mischa
Novotny, Thomas E.
author_facet Stigler Granados, Paula
Fulton, Lawrence
Nunez Patlan, Evangelina
Terzyk, Mischa
Novotny, Thomas E.
author_sort Stigler Granados, Paula
collection PubMed
description Cigarette butts, which are also known as tobacco product waste (TPW), are the single most collected item in environmental trash cleanups worldwide. This study used an online survey tool (Qualtrics) to assess knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions regarding this issue among individuals representing the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA). The FCA has about 680 members on its listserv, including non-governmental tobacco control advocacy groups that support the implementation of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Respondents (n = 65) represented countries from all six WHO regions. The majority (82%) had heard the term TPW, and they all considered TPW as an environmental harm at some level. Additionally, 29% of respondents failed to identify that “cigarette filters make smoking easier”. Most (73%) correctly identified TPW components; however, fewer (60%) correctly identified the composition of cigarette butts. The majority (57%) were unfamiliar with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Product Stewardship (PS) as possible environmental intervention strategies. Respondents expressing opinions concurred that adding a litter fee to fund TPW programs will aid in reducing tobacco use and reduce the environmental impacts of TPW (100%); that prevention, reduction, and mitigation of TPW could be an important part of international tobacco control programs (98%); and, that banning smoking in outdoor venues could reduce TPW (95%). Only 16% reported effective prevention or clean-up efforts in their countries. Weighted rankings revealed that respondents’ saw the national government, the tobacco industry, and state governments as the most important in addressing TPW. The results of this research will inform continuing international discussions by the FCTC Conference of the Parties (COP) regarding environmental policies that may be addressed within FCTC obligations.
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spelling pubmed-65726162019-06-18 Global Health Perspectives on Cigarette Butts and the Environment Stigler Granados, Paula Fulton, Lawrence Nunez Patlan, Evangelina Terzyk, Mischa Novotny, Thomas E. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Cigarette butts, which are also known as tobacco product waste (TPW), are the single most collected item in environmental trash cleanups worldwide. This study used an online survey tool (Qualtrics) to assess knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions regarding this issue among individuals representing the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA). The FCA has about 680 members on its listserv, including non-governmental tobacco control advocacy groups that support the implementation of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Respondents (n = 65) represented countries from all six WHO regions. The majority (82%) had heard the term TPW, and they all considered TPW as an environmental harm at some level. Additionally, 29% of respondents failed to identify that “cigarette filters make smoking easier”. Most (73%) correctly identified TPW components; however, fewer (60%) correctly identified the composition of cigarette butts. The majority (57%) were unfamiliar with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Product Stewardship (PS) as possible environmental intervention strategies. Respondents expressing opinions concurred that adding a litter fee to fund TPW programs will aid in reducing tobacco use and reduce the environmental impacts of TPW (100%); that prevention, reduction, and mitigation of TPW could be an important part of international tobacco control programs (98%); and, that banning smoking in outdoor venues could reduce TPW (95%). Only 16% reported effective prevention or clean-up efforts in their countries. Weighted rankings revealed that respondents’ saw the national government, the tobacco industry, and state governments as the most important in addressing TPW. The results of this research will inform continuing international discussions by the FCTC Conference of the Parties (COP) regarding environmental policies that may be addressed within FCTC obligations. MDPI 2019-05-26 2019-05 /pmc/articles/PMC6572616/ /pubmed/31130709 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16101858 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Stigler Granados, Paula
Fulton, Lawrence
Nunez Patlan, Evangelina
Terzyk, Mischa
Novotny, Thomas E.
Global Health Perspectives on Cigarette Butts and the Environment
title Global Health Perspectives on Cigarette Butts and the Environment
title_full Global Health Perspectives on Cigarette Butts and the Environment
title_fullStr Global Health Perspectives on Cigarette Butts and the Environment
title_full_unstemmed Global Health Perspectives on Cigarette Butts and the Environment
title_short Global Health Perspectives on Cigarette Butts and the Environment
title_sort global health perspectives on cigarette butts and the environment
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6572616/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31130709
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16101858
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