BY GINA G. SCALA

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

In just about a month, the unofficial start of summer will arrive. It is “shore” to bring with it sightseers to storm-ravaged towns; crowded beaches and cigarettes.

No need to adjust the reading glasses, the last item in the list above is cigarettes. In honor of Earth Week, a new survey found cigarette butts are the number one discarded item on beaches, roadways and elsewhere.

“They are the number one littered item by item count and because they do not biodegrade, we need to turn this around,” D. Cheryl Healton, president and CEO of Legacy, an anti-smoking organization focused on a longer life through healthy choices, told WCBS News. “We have to change the social norms. People think it’s OK to toss a cigarette out of a car window or just drop it on the street and it’s not OK.”

While smoking has decreased across the nation, careless tossing of cigarette butts is still a regular occurrence, she said.

“Of course, the population is continuing to rise so even though smoking rates are declining, I’d say the tobacco industry is doing pretty well,” Healton said. “They’re doing so well they could afford to help.”

The trouble with discarded cigarette butts is the filter is filled with carcinogens, metals and other toxins that leech into soil or water.

“And some of those do not ever go away,” she said, “especially anything that is metal. It simply bio-magnifies,” meaning it gets further into the food chain and eventually ends up in food sources.

While the tobacco industry might not be looking to lend a hand to rid beaches and roadways of cigarette butts, Clean Ocean Action held its annual clean up of Jersey Shore beaches earlier this month. Cigarette butts accounted for 14 percent of the clean up.