Secondhand Smoke may be as bad as Smoking on your Heart
I have made posts about the danger of smoking on the cardiovascular system. Basically, smoking introduces free radicals into the bloodstream. These charged molecules can oxidize cholesterol and make it easier for cholesterol to penetrate artery cell walls and accumulate there giving rise to plaque. This encourages hardening of the arteries or atherosclerosis and may lead ultimately to a heart attack and sudden death.
Perhaps nothing a person can do is more harmful to the heart than smoking. This is probably one of the reasons why smoking has been banned in many public buildings.
Be aware that secondhand smoke can also have a serious impact on your heart. The U.S. Surgeon General determined that the separation of smokers and nonsmokers within the same airspace may reduce, but does not eliminate, the exposure of nonsmokers to secondhand smoke. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that secondhand smoke cannot be reduced to safe levels in businesses by high rates of ventilation.
Numerous studies have found that tobacco smoke is a major contributor to indoor air pollution and that breathing secondhand smoke is a cause of disease in healthy nonsmokers, including heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and lung cancer.
Air cleaners, which are only capable of filtering the particulate matter and odors in smoke, do not necessarily eliminate the known toxins in secondhand smoke. A significant amount of secondhand-smoke exposure may occur in a workplace. Employees who work in smoke-filled businesses suffer a 25 to 50 percent higher risk of heart attack and higher rates of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer, as well as increased acute respiratory disease and measurable decrease in lung function.
