HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) – WAVY’s Sarah Goode speaks with Dr. Raffaele Marchigiani about smoking indoors at the Portsmouth Casino. Watch the WAVY Digital Desk conversation in the video player on this page.
Dr. Marchigiani is a Thoracic Surgeon at Sentara’s Brock Cancer Center in Norfolk, Virginia. The majority of his practice deals with lung cancer.
During the conversation, he shares his concerns on the indoor smoking policy. He says, “To hear we are allowing smoking in such a large venue with so many people inside, was just not something I wanted to be hearing.”
Even if you are not smoking, Dr. Marchigiani says secondhand smoke exposes people to the same dangers as smokers. A less commonly known risk is Thirdhand Smoke. Thirdhand Smoke is being studied, and he shares an example of those working in the shipyard with asbestos.
He says, “those clothes would be brought home from work and then someone who is washing those clothes are getting the asbestos fibers from the clothes into their lungs off the clothes and it’s the same idea with smoking.” The person at home without a direct link to the smoke, can also be affected.
When asked about other types of smoke, he says there really are no safe alternatives to cigarettes. “The only thing we should be breathing is the fresh air and the air we have inside, that theoretically should be non-smoking.”
Watch the full conversation in the player to hear more from Dr. Marchigiani.
