Cigarette butts are the most common form of litter in the world and their environmental impact is related to both persistence and potential toxic effects for chemical composition. The objective of this study was to assess the acute toxicity (LC₅₀-48 h) of human-smoked cigarette butts leachate on 3 cultured genera of benthic foraminifera: the calcareous perforate Rosalina globularis, the calcareous imperforate Quinqueloculina spp., and the agglutinated Textularia agglutinans. The specimens were exposed to 16, 8, 4, 2, and 1 cigarette butts/L concentrations that prove to be acutely toxic to all taxa. Starting from 4 cigarette butts/L, both calcareous genera showed shell decalcification, and death of almost all the individuals, except for the more resistant agglutinated species. These results suggest the potential harmfulness of cigarette butts leachate related to pH reduction and release of toxic substances, in particular nicotine, which leads to physiology alteration and in many cases cellular death.

烟蒂是世界上最常见的垃圾形式，其环境影响与化学成分的持久性和潜在毒性影响有关。本研究的目的是评估人类吸烟烟蒂渗滤液对 3 个培养的底栖有孔虫属的急性毒性 (LC ₅₀ -48 h)：钙质有孔植物Rosalina globularis、钙质无孔植物 Quinqueloculina spp. 和凝集的文本性有孔虫属。凝集素。样本暴露于 16、8、4、2 和 1 个烟蒂/升浓度，证明对所有类群都有剧毒。从 4 个烟头/L 开始，两个钙质属都表现出外壳脱钙，几乎所有个体都死亡，除了更具抵抗力的凝集种。这些结果表明，烟蒂渗滤液的潜在危害与 pH 值降低和有毒物质（尤其是尼古丁）的释放有关，这会导致生理改变，在许多情况下会导致细胞死亡。