Question about second hand smoke

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So, I know that smoke causes irritation in our airways which causes us to cough more.
I very rarely am exposed to second hand smoke and today I was and I'm now having a very productive cough. More productive than usual (less work to get stuff out).

My question is: did the smoke contribute to an increase of mucus or is it somehow making it easier to cough things up? The latter seems unlikely (I don't believe there are any advantages to inhaling smoke) but I just don't really know what happens.

Thanks for any help.
Vera

 

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No advantages.

If exposed long enough it can narrow airways and make it harder to cough up stuff. All a cough is is air getting underneath the foreign substance and trying to get it out.

Since it was probably your first extended exposure your body was able to get enough air below it to get it out, as well as anything else you had.

More exposure means less air able to push it up.