When health anthropologist Jeremiah Mock heard a student complain her school was littered with e-cigarette waste he decided to investigate. So he walked around the Marin County, California student parking lot and confirmed what they were saying. Then he investigated further. Now he speaks of piles of e cigarette waste (and tobacco trash) across the landscape.
Discovering Piles of E Cigarette Waste at Schools
Jeremiah Mock and colleague Yogi Hendlin surveyed 12 public high school parking lots across the San Francisco Bay Area. Salon reports they quantified the e cigarette, cannabis, and tobacco waste and discovered the former contributes 19% of this litter.
This 19% would not have existed a decade ago, they say. Therefore, e-cigarettes are more than just an apparent health hazard. They are also a looming environmental threat they warn, and are becoming a garbage disposal problem too. Those piles of e cigarette waste comprise combustible lithium ion batteries, micro plastics, metals, and nicotine.
I Would Say It Is Alarming, Jeremiah Mock Told Salon
Jeremiah Mock is associate professor at University of California, San Francisco. He also serves on the university’s Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education. His sleuthing revealed vapers in middle schools now too.
This is alarming considering the vaping health scare that may come from inhaling the marijuana strain producing highs. Moreover, the study reveals kids don’t believe a spent e cigarette pod contains anything dangerous.
Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Crushing a used pod releases micro plastics, and also residual nicotine and other chemicals. The piles of e cigarette waste will continue to grow, especially while the packaging provides no advice about responsible disposal. Meanwhile, spent batteries from e cigarettes continue to spark fires, costing millions of dollars damage to recycling trucks and processing plants.
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