The New York Whale and Dolphin Action League  This article was
first published in The Viking News, October 22, 2003, a bi-
weekly publication of the State University of New York,
Westchester Community College.   By Taffy Lee Williams  So
what's wrong with tossing out a cigarette butt? It makes them
just GO AWAY, plain and simple, right? WRONG! Did you know that
cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, which persists
up to ten years in the environment, far longer than it takes to
destroy the internal processes of the creatures that ingest them
mistakenly as food.  Did you know that when a cigarette butt is
tossed out it is more often than not picked up by the next
rainstorm or gust of wind and carried by the forces of gravity
to the low lying areas which inevitably are streams, rivers, and
eventually the ocean, where it will continue to wreak havoc for
years to come?  More than 4,800 chemical compounds have been
identified in tobacco smoke; 62 of these are known to cause
cancer in humans and animals. (M