The influence of waste from electronic cigarettes, conventional cigarettes and heat-not-burn tobacco products on microorganisms

Abstract

Tobacco smoking, especially conventional cigarettes, is widespread throughout the world. Simultaneously, there is a growing interest in new alternative products that allow delivering nicotine to the users’ organisms, including electronic cigarettes and heat-not-burn tobacco products. However, there are few scientific reports regarding the effect of waste generated from the above-mentioned products on microorganisms. The aim of the manuscript was to investigate the influence of substances leached from conventional cigarette butts, butts from heat-not-burn tobacco products, cartridges and e-liquids for electronic cigarettes on microorganisms. The commercial multispecies MARA (microbial assay for risk assessment) test and non-selected microorganisms from the Brynica River (Poland), as well as an effluent from the wastewater treatment plant (Sosnowiec-Zagórze, Poland), were used in the ecotoxicity assessment of the investigated waste. The results of the experiments revealed that the waste from electronic cigarettes, i.e. cartridges and e-liquids, does not pose a considerable threat to the microbiocenosis. On the other hand, a particularly strong ecotoxic effect on the investigated microorganisms has been reported for leachate from smoked cigarette butts and butts from heat-not-burn tobacco products. Their high ecotoxicity combined with a high supply is worrying and it can require interventions to protect the aquatic environment. The retention of the waste can have an adverse effect on microorganisms in reservoirs surface waters or a sludge activity in wastewater treatment plants.