A consumer rights activist, Mr. Lanre Oginni said Secondhand smoke (SHS) can be toxic to a non-smoker through the air he breaths. A non-smoker who breathes in SHS takes in nicotine and toxic chemical the same way smokers do. The more SHS he breathes, the higher the level of these harmful chemicals in the body.
Oginni added that there are no possible means, for a non-smoker to be immune to a tobacco smoke that lingers in the air or in an atmosphere. Smoke stays in the air for a longer period of time. He therefore urged smokers to quit cigarette smoking totally to prevent polluting the environment with dangerous chemical substances being emitted from tobacco.
Secondhand smoke (SHS), also called passive smoke or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is the combination of smoke from a burning cigarette and smoke exhaled by a smoker. The smoke that comes directly from the burning tobacco product is known as side stream smoke, while smoke inhale by the smoker is called mainstream smoke.
Study also shows that a mainstream smoke lingers in the air for approximately four hours, and breathing in from such environment or atmosphere can be harmful to the body. In reference to an article reviewed by Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, United States (U.S), exposure to SHS has a severe effect on the body at every minute and hour.
In five minutes, it stiffens the aorta of nonsmokers as much as that of one smoking a cigarette. Aorta is the main artery of the body, supplying oxygenated blood to the circulatory system. In humans it passes over the heart from the left ventricle and runs down in front of the backbone.
In Twenty to 30 minutes, SHS causes excess blood clotting, as well as increases the build-up of fat deposits in blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke.
