Chapter 12 - Microplastics and toxic leachate from littered cigarette butts threaten the environment, biodiversity, and human well-being

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The present study reports an interesting observation of White-banded Hedge Blue Lestanicus transpectus drinking (through its proboscis) from a littered cigarette butt (CB) in a small sewage drain at Tadong, Gangtok, Sikkim, India. We have also reviewed the effects of CBs and other cigarette wastes on the environment, biodiversity, and human well-being; and the ways to mitigate them. The cigarette filters (CFs) contained in the littered CBs are a major source of microplastic pollution. Tobacco smoking, especially in the form of cigarettes is neither going to stop anytime soon, nor are we advocating for the same. Instead, the study would emphasize sustainable and effective mitigation measures and urge all the relevant stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, cigarette manufacturers, distributors, shopkeepers, smokers, and post-consumer cigarette waste recycling companies) to contribute more to collection, segregation, and disposal or recycling of CBs and others cigarette wastes. Although past studies have reported the effects of CBs on the wild biodiversity, these were mainly on vertebrates (e.g., birds) and very few on invertebrates. There is a need to study the effects of microplastics and leachate from CBs (and other cigarette wastes) on the reproduction, growth, and behavior of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), the widely used indicator invertebrate taxa for assessing and monitoring ecosystem health, and climate change in the Himalaya and elsewhere.