Q&A: World No Tobacco Day 2022

• An estimated 1.5 billion hectares of (mainly tropical) forests have been lost worldwide since the 1970s due to tobacco, contributing to up to 20% of annual greenhouse gas increase.
• Trees are cut down to clear land for tobacco farming, in addition wood is burned for the curing of tobacco leaves after harvest. It takes approximately one entire tree, to make 300 cigarettes.
• Approximately 200,000 hectares of land is cleared annually for tobacco growing and curing.
• Tobacco farming accounts for about 5% of the total national deforestation, disproportionately affecting tobacco growing regions of the world, including Southern Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, South America and the Caribbean.

• Fertile land that could be used to grow nutritious crops is used for tobacco. The soil depletion caused by tobacco growing further contributes to food insecurity and nutrition challenges.
• Rehabbing the soil after tobacco farming is costly. Based on data collected in 2014, it would cost 20.6 million USD to reverse the negative effects on soil in Bangladesh caused by one year of tobacco farming.
• Desertification attributable to tobacco growing is now being seen within many countries including Brazil, India, Jordan, and Cuba.

• The entire life cycle of a single cigarette requires approximately 3.7 liters of water, this includes the growing, manufacturing, distribution, use, and disposal. The average smoker could save up to 74 liters of water per day if they quit smoking.
• Tobacco growing depletes water tables. The cultivation stage of tobacco alone requires the same amount of water that an individual would need for an entire year.
• Based on the number of cigarettes produced in 2015 in Brazil, the 3rd largest producer of tobacco, 263,813,700,000 liters of water was utilized to produce its annual supply. Given that the average person drinks about 700 liters of water per year, if all this water were to be converted to drinking water, it would be able to hydrate an approximate 3.7 million people, which is about the entire population of its capital, Brasília.
• It is now well established that cigarette filters (butts) are among the topmost polluting and toxic substances found in water bodies. It takes a cigarette butt approximately 10 years to decompose, allowing time for nicotine and chemicals to leach into surrounding ecosystems.
• A study from the EPA concluded that when cigarette butts are soaked in freshwater for 96 hours, approximately half the fish died.

• To produce a single cigarette, 14g of CO₂ is emitted throughout its lifecycle.
• Tobacco production contributes almost 84 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent emissions annually. That is equivalent to 280,000 rockets launching into outer space.
• Tobacco smoke contributes to higher air pollution levels and contains three kinds of greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides, which pollutes indoor and outdoor environments.

• Globally, the approximate weight of waste generated annually from the overall tobacco life cycle is approximately 25 million metric tons. 
• Almost all commercial cigarettes have a cellulose acetate filter attached; this additive is poorly degradable and a source of microplastics contamination of the environment. 
• Approximately 4.5 trillion cigarettes are discarded in the environment every year.
• Surveys of littering behavior have found that approximately 65% of smokers discard cigarette butts improperly (e.g., on pavements, beaches, etc.)
• There are over 7,000 chemicals released into the environment from use of a cigarette – 70 of which are known carcinogens.

• E-waste in general is already an overwhelming problem, with 99 billion pounds discarded annually according to 2017 global estimates. 
• The disposal of e-cigarette cartridges and batteries represent a major environmental concern. Most plastic e-cigarette cartridges are not reusable or recyclable and end up in gutters, streets, and waterways.
• Improper disposal of these products is extremely harmful to the environment as they are made up of materials that are not biodegradable, such as metal coils, plastic, atomizers, batteries, and micro-controller chips. In addition, many products are single use. 

• The indiscriminate use of plastic sachets/pouches has become a new environmental concern in several countries where smokeless forms of tobacco such as gutkha, pan masala, etc. are packaged and sold.
• The environmental, human, and ecological damage of plastic waste materials, especially to marine biology, is well documented.
• The problem with using plastic pouches for packaging smokeless forms of tobacco was initially limited to South Asian economies, but in the last decade or so it has become a global concern. This is due to aggressive marketing and introduction of gutkha and pan masala into new markets in both Asia and Africa.

Farmer’s health

• A tobacco farmer who plants, cultivates, and harvests tobacco may absorb as much nicotine per day as found in 50 cigarettes. Green Tobacco Sickness (GTS) is a form of nicotine poisoning that occurs in about 1 in 4 farmers.
• Tobacco farmers may also experience increased concentration of aluminum and arsenic in the blood due to exposure to pesticides. Chronic exposure to certain pesticides results in several health effects including birth defects, benign and malignant tumors, genetic changes, blood disorders, neurological disorders, and endocrine disruption.

Children’s health

• Often, children work on tobacco farms, and they are particularly vulnerable given that their body weight is relative to the proportion of nicotine absorbed through their skin from handling tobacco leaves. Youth tobacco farmers may experience increased risk of early kidney disfunction as well as higher prevalence of smoking.

Women’s health

• Women are disproportionally affected by the harmful effects of tobacco farming as they face a higher risk of infertility and reproductive issues.

• Tobacco use is associated with substantial humanistic and economic burden. Smoking is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, respiratory illness, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and more.
• Smoking tobacco in indoor spaces, is a major contributor to air pollution, as it releases toxicants into the air, increasing risk of exposure of bystanders. Second-hand smoking is responsible for the premature death of 1.2 million people globally every year, in addition to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
• Based on results from a 2018 study, the total global economic cost of smoking, from both health expenditures and productivity losses, is equivalent in magnitude to 1.8% of the world's annual gross domestic product (GDP). About 40% of this cost occurred in developing countries.

• Deceitful tactics are used by the tobacco industry to greenwash its reputation and portray itself as a sustainable and eco-friendly industry.  
• These tactics are used to hide the fact that tobacco farming, production, consumption, and use are detrimental to both the surrounding environment as well as the health of farmers and tobacco users.
• For example, the intent of the industry’s self-reported data is to mislead the public into minimizing the effects of tobacco growing on the environment and communities of countries worldwide.
• The marketing and eco-labelling of cigarettes as ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ makes tobacco users believe the products are not harmful to them.
• Tobacco companies fund schools, health systems, environmental and disaster relief organizations, and clean-up of tobacco product waste programs, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, to be recognized for contributions to society. 

 For more on green washing tactics, please refer to the STOP Infographic on greenwashing.

• Under Article 18 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, parties “agree to have due regard to the protection of the environment and the health of persons in relation to the environment in respect of tobacco cultivation and manufacture within their respective territories”.
• Countries can impose the ‘Extended Producer Responsibility Policy Principle’ to mitigate the problem of tobacco and e-cigarette product waste, and to hold tobacco and related industries accountable for clean-up and waste disposal costs.
• Governments can impose an environmental tax levy on tobacco manufacturers, distributors and consumers for carbon emissions, air pollutants, and other environmental costs caused during the supply chain of tobacco products.
• Countries recognize the use of single use non-biodegradable plastics in cigarette filters and other nicotine products and should take appropriate action to phase out the use of plastics in nicotine and tobacco products.
• Farmers can be supported through government incentives to participate in crop substitution by growing more sustainable crops that will benefit the livelihood of the community.