UK to ban cigarette filters as plastics are abandoned

Following the adoption of the UK Environment Act, a twelve-week consultation should result in a ban on filters on cigarettes. In parallel, a Californian study is looking at the influence of the presence of the filter on the behaviour of smokers.

Echoing a European Union directive published in June 2019[1] and after two years of development, the UK Environment Act was enacted on 9 November 2021 with the aim of significantly reducing the share of plastics in waste, with a priority given to single-use products.[2]. These products include plastic straws and cups, cotton swabs, wipes, and tobacco product filters. Cigarette filters, in particular, are made of cellulose acetate, a form of plastic that takes up to eleven years to degrade and adds to the toxic emissions of nicotine and heavy metals released by cigarette butts.

Cigarette filters, a major source of pollution

The idea of removing cigarette filters has been raised for several years as a way to reduce the environmental impact of cigarette butts, which are one of the main types of waste thrown into nature, as well as to discourage tobacco use.

A twelve-week consultation cycle has just been launched on the UK Environment Act to gather the views of various parties, and should include smokers and tobacco manufacturers.[3]. The latter will soon be forced to put into circulation cigarettes without filters, the costs of which they will have to pass on in the form of a new increase in the price of tobacco for consumers. The hypothesis of biodegradable filters, supported by manufacturers, has not been retained to date. By equipping itself with the most demanding environmental legislation in the world, England is also the first nation to initiate a process of banning cigarette filters.

Study puts filters into perspective for smokers

The presence of these filters on the behavior of smokers is one of the other recurring questions, which a team of Californian researchers tried to answer. Using randomized crossover trials, these researchers offered smokers the opportunity to alternate between cigarettes with or without filters for two weeks, over a period of nine weeks.[4]Four types of measurements were carried out repeatedly during this period in order to assess nicotine dependence, smoking behavior, biomarker levels (nicotinine/creatinine) and intention to quit smoking.

The results indicate that filtered cigarettes are perceived more positively by smokers for their taste, which is considered tastier, less acrid and more satisfying than non-filtered cigarettes; the latter are also considered to be higher in nicotine and more dissuasive. Analysis of the number of cigarettes smoked indicates a higher consumption of filtered cigarettes. The biological markers are almost identical depending on the type of cigarette smoked, which suggests that the presence of a filter has little influence on the nicotine and tar content inhaled by smokers. The presence or absence of a filter, however, did not influence the intention to quit smoking.

The researchers concluded from this study that the presence of a filter on cigarettes has the effect of attributing to them more satisfying sensations and a more positive image which would contribute to reinforcing the tobacco addiction of smokers and to considering cigarettes with filters as less harmful, while encouraging them to smoke more. They therefore lean towards measures to ban filters on cigarettes on the grounds of environmental protection and a less positive perception of cigarettes, while waiting for more substantial and longer studies to better evaluate the influence on the intention to stop smoking.

Filters, an invention of the tobacco industry

This study has, among other things, the interest of highlighting that cigarette filters are not effective and that they are mainly designed to reduce the unpleasant sensations caused in smokers by tobacco smoke. Inaugurated by manufacturers in the 1950s, cellulose acetate cigarette filters were affixed to mask the unpleasant sensations of smoking in order to conquer the markets of women and young people.[5]. It was a promise of harm reduction, which claimed to address health concerns and was quickly proven false, with the sole aim of suggesting that there could be less harmful forms of smoking. Restoring all of cigarettes' sensory disadvantages is thus one of the avenues being considered to dissuade smokers and make cigarette butts less polluting.

Keywords: cigarette butts, filter, study, environment, England, United Kingdom

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[1] Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment [2] Plans unveiled to ban single-use plastics, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, published 20 November 2021, accessed 23 November 2021. [3] Cooke M, Smokers warned of major new change with ban on cigarette filters, Express, published November 20, 2021, accessed November 23, 2021. [4] Pulvers K, Tracy L, Novotny TE, Satybaldiyeva N, Hunn A, Romero DR, Dodder NG, Magraner J, Oren E, Switching people who smoke to unfiltered cigarettes: perceptions, addiction and behavioral effects in a cross-over randomized controlled trial, Tob Control 2021;0:1–4. [5] Should filters in cigarettes be banned?, Generation Without Tobacco, published on April 27, 2021, consulted on November 23, 2021. National Committee Against Smoking |