Cigarettes are most littered item on the planet as 4.5 trillion are discarded each year

As well as being awful for our health, cigarettes are also incredibly damaging for the environment.

According to experts, they are the most littered item on the planet, with 4.5 trillion of them discarded every year - worse than crisp packets or plastic bottles.

I mean, just think about how many times you've seen someone throw their cigarette butt out of the car window.

See what happens when they are thrown onto the ground:

A study from a team of researchers at Anglia Ruskin University found that billions of cigs were thrown out every year.

The report stated that this damaged soil, reducing the germination success of clover by 27 percent and shoot length by 28 percent.

Grass germination success was also found to have been hampered, dropping by 10 percent, while shoot length fell by 13 percent when cigarette butts were present in soil.

The study, which was published in the journal of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, revealed an average of around 128 discarded butts were found per square metre around the city of Cambridge alone, where the study took place.

Dr Dannielle Green, the study's lead author, said one of the main problems was the fact that dropping butts seems to be ‘socially acceptable’.

Peter Lane/Alamy

She said: "Despite being a common sight littering streets and parks worldwide, our study is the first to show the impact of cigarette butts on plants.

"We found they had a detrimental effect on the germination success and shoot length of both grass and clover, and reduced the root weight of clover by over half."

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has now warned about the damage cigarettes can do to the environment.

In a video posted on Twitter, the body urged people to think twice before throwing their filters onto the ground instead of in the bin.

These can take years, if not decades, to naturally break down.

"They are a form of plastic. And when you litter one on the ground, you are contributing to the micro plastic problem," the video warns.

Sucharas Wongpeth/Alamy

"Once you smoke a cigarette, you've started a chemical reaction. The micro plastics are now brittle. They will break off and they will leach into the surrounding environment.

"A bit of UV light and some rain comes along and the microplastics are now leaching into your waterways. Heavy metals and cancer causing compounds immediately affect the environment around it."

It adds: "Don't be part of this problem."

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