One hookah session delivers 125 times the smoke of one cigarette
The health detriments of cigarette smoking are, by now, very well known to the general public. But what about hookah smoking? Though some people believe the myth that because hookahs employ a water bowl, it makes them safer by drawing the smoke through the water, a new study unveils some shocking discoveries about just how harmful hookah smoking is.
Just one hookah session delivers 10 times the carbon monoxide of a single cigarette, prompting researchers to caution that hookah smokers are exposed to more toxicants than they likely realize.
Hookahs are water pipes from which people can smoke specially made tobacco with flavors, including apple, mint, cherry, chocolate and watermelon. Use of the hookah - also known as narghile, argileh, shisha, hubble-bubble and goza - began centuries ago in Persia and India.
It is typically used in groups, and users share the same mouthpiece as it is passed around. Hookah cafes around the world are becoming more and more popular, with locations springing up in countries including the UK, France, the US and Russia.
Although cigarette smoking rates are beginning to fall, researchers from this latest study - published in the journal Public Health Reports - note that more people are using hookahs to smoke tobacco. However, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers say their study shows that such smokers are taking in a large load of toxins.
In total, the researchers reviewed 542 scientific articles that were relevant to cigarette and hookah smoking. From this, they narrowed the articles down to 17 studies with enough data to make reliable estimates on toxicants inhaled from cigarettes or hookahs. Their research revealed that one hookah session delivers about 125 times the smoke, 25 times the tar, 2.5 times the nicotine and 10 times the carbon monoxide of a single cigarette.
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