Here’s some shocking news!

A new study conducted by U.S. researchers disclosed that 10-minute exposure to smoke particulates from tobacco, cooking oil and wood fires can have a serious effect on cardiovascular function.

In a declaration, lead researcher Joyce Mcclendon Evans of the University of Kentucky in Lexington said, “I was surprised we got statistically significant results with this low level of exposure.”

“If we can detect these effects with smaller exposures, then the public health hazard from cigarettes and other particulate exposures may have been underestimated,” Evans added.

Accumulating facts shows that an increase in atmospheric pollution is associated with a surge in heart attack cases as well as deaths.

These pollutants have fine particles, which stir up responses from heart and blood vessels showing effects on their functioning.

The study researchers briefly exposed 40 healthy non-smokers (21 women, 19 men) aged 35, to low levels of ordinary pollutants.

After that, the researchers assessed their cardiovascular as well as cardiorespiratory responses.

The study also discovered that exposure to smoke changed men’s breathing forms, increased their blood pressure cycles in peripheral arteries, and changed control of pulse rate toward sympathetic domination.

The sympathetic nervous system generates the "fight or flight" response that drives the heart and blood pressure level, and may cause damage if activated too long.

The study findings are scheduled to be exhibited at the annual meeting of The American Physiological Society in New Orleans.