Cigarette, beedi butts are not toxic, claims study

Chemical levels in cigarette and beedi butts are lower than the government-prescribed limits and “not toxic to humans and environment”, according to a recent study by Lucknow-based Indian Institute of Toxicology Research. In April last year, the National Green Tribunal directed the ministry of environment and forests to get a study conducted as to whether cigarette and beedi butts fall within the category of ‘toxic waste’. “The degradation studies under natural environmental conditions and laboratory simulating conditions will be required to conclude the safety/toxicity of cigarette butts to further correlate with human and environmental health risk assessment,” it said. Doctors for You, an NGO working towards cancer care, had moved the tribunal, asking that the Centre be directed to declare cigarette and beedi butts ‘toxic waste’.