Small Butt Harmful: Individual- and Population-Level Impacts of Cigarette Filter Particles on the Deposit-Feeding Polychaete Capitella teleta

• Published in: Environmental science & technology 2023-02, Vol.57 (8), p.3218-3227
• Main Authors: Sandgaard, Monica H, Syberg, Kristian, Grønlund, Sara N, Riisgaard, Eva K, Rishøj, Christian, Palmqvist, Annemette
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Body volume (biology); Capitella; Cigarettes; Female; Geologic Sediments; Life history; Marine environment; Polychaeta; Reproduction; Statistical analysis; Tobacco Products; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis
• ISSN: 0013-936X; 1520-5851
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c06117

In the marine environment, discarded cigarette filters (CFs) deteriorate and leach filter-associated chemicals. The study aim was to assess the effects of smoked CFs (SCFs) and non-smoked CFs (NCFs) particles on individual life-history traits in the deposit-feeding polychaete and extrapolate these to possible population-level effects. was exposed to sediment-spiked particles of NCFs and SCFs at an environmentally realistic concentration (0.1 mg particles g dw sed) and a 100-fold higher (10 mg particles g dw sed) concentration. Experimental setup incorporated 11 individual endpoints and lasted approximately 6 months. There were significant effects on all endpoints, except from adult body volume and egestion rate, in worms exposed to 10 mg SCF particles g dw sed. Although not statistically significant, there was ≥50% impact on time between reproductive events and number of eggs per female at 0.1 mg SCF particles g dw sed. None of the endpoints was significantly affected by NCFs. Results suggest that SCFs are likely to affect individual life-history traits of , whereas the population model suggests that these effects might not transform into population-level effects. The results further indicate that chemicals associated with CFs are the main driver causing the effects rather than the CF particles.