If a pregnant woman inhales secondhand smoke it can have harmful effects on the ᴜɴʙᴏʀɴ ғᴇᴛᴜs.
Researchers discovered this by experimenting on laboratory rats. They mimicked the secondhand smoke exposure that humans experience in lab rats and discovered that it affected the brain development of the rat babies.
- Slotkin, Ph. D, professor in Duke’s Department of Pharmacology & Cancer Biology, stated, “This finding has important implications for public health because it reinforces the need to avoid secondhand smoke exposure not only during pregnancy, but also the period prior to conception, or generally for women of childbearing age.”
