Potential contribution of discarded cigarettes to anthropogenic eutrophication in an urban area

This paper demonstrates the potential contribution to the environment from water soluble phosphorus contained in discarded tobacco products. Dry tobacco was soaked in water and the concentration of dissolved phosphorus was determined by absorptiometry and ion chromatography. The total phosphorus was also measured by absorptiometry following decomposition by a nitric–sulfuric acid decomposition method. As a result, it was found that ca. 1.2 mg of phosphorus (as total PO4-P) was dissolved from unit mass of dry tobacco. It is estimated that the amount of phosphorus that could pass into the Japanese environment through discarded cigarettes was 115–208 kg per day.