Cigarette waste in popular beaches in thailand: High densities that demand environmental action

© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Thailand, like all nations, has a responsibility to initiate environmental actions to preserve marine environments. Low- and middle-income countries face difficulties implementing feasible strategies to fulfill this ambitious goal. To contrib...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Nipapun Kungskulniti, Naowarut Charoenca, Stephen L. Hamann, Siriwan Pitayarangsarit, Jeremiah Mock
Other Authors: Mahidol University
Format: Article
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/45891
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: Mahidol University
id th-mahidol.45891
record_format dspace
spelling th-mahidol.458912019-08-28T13:16:04Z Cigarette waste in popular beaches in thailand: High densities that demand environmental action Nipapun Kungskulniti Naowarut Charoenca Stephen L. Hamann Siriwan Pitayarangsarit Jeremiah Mock Mahidol University Insight Analysis Group Center of Excellence on Environmental Health and Toxicology Tobacco Control Research and Knowledge Management Center Environmental Science Medicine © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Thailand, like all nations, has a responsibility to initiate environmental actions to preserve marine environments. Low- and middle-income countries face difficulties implementing feasible strategies to fulfill this ambitious goal. To contribute to the revitalization of Thailand’s marine ecosystems, we investigated the level of tobacco product waste (TPW) on Thailand’s public beaches. We conducted a cross-sectional observational survey at two popular public beaches. Research staff collected cigarette butts over two eight-hour days walking over a one-kilometer stretch of beach. We also compiled and analyzed data on butts collected from sieved sand at 11 popular beaches throughout Thailand’s coast, with 10 samples of sieved sand collected per beach. Our survey at two beaches yielded 3067 butts in lounge areas, resulting in a mean butt density of 0.44/m2. At the 11 beaches, sieved sand samples yielded butt densities ranging from 0.25 to 13.3/m2, with a mean butt density of 2.26/m2 (SD = 3.78). These densities show that TPW has become a serious problem along Thailand’s coastline. Our findings are comparable with those in other countries. We report on government and civil society initiatives in Thailand that are beginning to address marine TPW. The solution will only happen when responsible parties, especially and primarily tobacco companies, undertake actions to eliminate TPW. 2019-08-23T11:13:05Z 2019-08-23T11:13:05Z 2018-04-01 Article International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Vol.15, No.4 (2018) 10.3390/ijerph15040630 16604601 16617827 2-s2.0-85044955982 https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/45891 Mahidol University SCOPUS https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85044955982&origin=inward
institution Mahidol University
building Mahidol University Library
continent Asia
country Thailand
Thailand
content_provider Mahidol University Library
collection Mahidol University Institutional Repository
topic Environmental Science
Medicine
spellingShingle Environmental Science
Medicine
Nipapun Kungskulniti
Naowarut Charoenca
Stephen L. Hamann
Siriwan Pitayarangsarit
Jeremiah Mock
Cigarette waste in popular beaches in thailand: High densities that demand environmental action
description © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Thailand, like all nations, has a responsibility to initiate environmental actions to preserve marine environments. Low- and middle-income countries face difficulties implementing feasible strategies to fulfill this ambitious goal. To contribute to the revitalization of Thailand’s marine ecosystems, we investigated the level of tobacco product waste (TPW) on Thailand’s public beaches. We conducted a cross-sectional observational survey at two popular public beaches. Research staff collected cigarette butts over two eight-hour days walking over a one-kilometer stretch of beach. We also compiled and analyzed data on butts collected from sieved sand at 11 popular beaches throughout Thailand’s coast, with 10 samples of sieved sand collected per beach. Our survey at two beaches yielded 3067 butts in lounge areas, resulting in a mean butt density of 0.44/m2. At the 11 beaches, sieved sand samples yielded butt densities ranging from 0.25 to 13.3/m2, with a mean butt density of 2.26/m2 (SD = 3.78). These densities show that TPW has become a serious problem along Thailand’s coastline. Our findings are comparable with those in other countries. We report on government and civil society initiatives in Thailand that are beginning to address marine TPW. The solution will only happen when responsible parties, especially and primarily tobacco companies, undertake actions to eliminate TPW.
author2 Mahidol University
author_facet Mahidol University
Nipapun Kungskulniti
Naowarut Charoenca
Stephen L. Hamann
Siriwan Pitayarangsarit
Jeremiah Mock
format Article
author Nipapun Kungskulniti
Naowarut Charoenca
Stephen L. Hamann
Siriwan Pitayarangsarit
Jeremiah Mock
author_sort Nipapun Kungskulniti
title Cigarette waste in popular beaches in thailand: High densities that demand environmental action
title_short Cigarette waste in popular beaches in thailand: High densities that demand environmental action
title_full Cigarette waste in popular beaches in thailand: High densities that demand environmental action
title_fullStr Cigarette waste in popular beaches in thailand: High densities that demand environmental action
title_full_unstemmed Cigarette waste in popular beaches in thailand: High densities that demand environmental action
title_sort cigarette waste in popular beaches in thailand: high densities that demand environmental action
publishDate 2019
url https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/45891
_version_ 1763487902817320960