Is water-pipe smoking safe?
No. Water-pipe smokers inhale toxic substances emitted by burning tobacco (often flavoured) and by the coal used to heat the tobacco, and also second-hand tobacco smoke. Generally, water-pipe smokers smoke less frequently but with greater intensity, than cigarette smokers. Sessions generally last a long time (20–90minutes), exposing smokers for a long duration to tobacco smoke. Water-pipe smokers also tend to inhale the smoke deeply into their lungs because of the greater force needed to pull air through the water pathway. The “cooling” effect caused by passing the tobacco smoke through water can induce a greater number of puffs and thus increases the inhalation of carcinogens present in the smoke. The passing of smoke through water does not filter the toxic substances present in tobacco smoke. Water-pipes are also known by other names, including shisha, hookah, narghile, or hubble-bubble. An example is shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: A water-pipe device, also known as shisha, hookah, narghile, or hubble-bubble
Source: © danck - iStockphoto.com.
