Hookah: WHO Warns Against Water – Pipe Smoking

Doc cites hookah hooey
Level of smoke, herpes risk make safety pipe dream
By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News
March 11, 2008
College students who opt for the supposedly safe smoke of a hookah pipe are sucking in the chemical equivalent of dozens of cigarettes and are risking mouth herpes and other diseases, a Colorado State University doctor says.
In the past couple of weeks, two CSU students, and possibly a third, developed mouth herpes shortly after attending their first sessions at Fort Collins hookah bars, said Dr. Jane Higgins, infection control physician at CSU’s Hartshorn Health Services.
In the past few years, the number of hookah bars has increased to four in Fort Collins and to 25 in Denver, according to “Reducing Hookah Use,” a report by TobaccoFreeU.org.
A typical session with a pipe at a hookah bar lasts 45 minutes to an hour and costs $10 to $20, the report said. The shisha tobacco used in hookah pipes often is soaked in molasses and honey.
Research has shown that one hour on a hookah pipe exposes the user to 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke of a single cigarette, according to the report, which is available at The Bacchus Network’s Web site, which is devoted to keeping college students healthier.
The smoke also has high levels of arsenic, lead and nickel, 36 times the tar of a single cigarette and 15 times the carbon dioxide.
Higgins put the risk of contracting mouth herpes from a hookah pipe at roughly the same level as sharing drinks with friends.
But one Denver hookah cafe owner said his business takes several precautions to keep his customers safe.
“All the hookahs are washed after each use,” said George Mansour, owner of Habibi Hookah Cafe, 1800 S. Broadway, where he has been in business for about six months.
“Each customer has his own tip, and it’s not mouth-to- mouth,” he said.
He said the plastic tips are disposed of after each use. And between each use, the hookah is brushed and the hoses are sanitized.
Customers also can use a filter.
Hookah bars are increasingly popular because of the sociability of sharing a pipe with friends and because college- age people think it’s healthier than cigarettes, Higgins said.
“But it’s an absolute myth” that because the smoke is filtered through water that smokers are getting nothing harmful, Higgins said.

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WHO Warns Against Water – Pipe Smoking

May 30, 2007

GENEVA — Smoking from a water pipe may pose the same health risks as cigarettes, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, adding that there’s a need for more research into the link between hookahs and a number of fatal illnesses.

The hookah, used for centuries in North Africa, the Middle East and Central and South Asia, has become increasingly popular in the West, particularly among college students and young adults. Hookah bars have sprung up in cities across the United States, and groups of people often visit them to relax and talk while smoking from the water pipes.

WHO, however, warned that using the water pipe to smoke tobacco is ”not a safe alternative to cigarette smoking.” In a seven-page document on the practice, the U.N. health agency said the rising popularity of hookahs is partly due to ”unfounded assumptions” of safety and misleading commercial marketing.

”Contrary to ancient lore and popular belief, the smoke that emerges from a water pipe contains numerous toxicants known to cause lung cancer, heart disease and other diseases,” said WHO, which also issued a 50-page report Tuesday urging all countries to ban smoking in public buildings.

WHO warned that using water pipes to consume shisha — a mixture of tobacco, molasses and fruit flavors — usually exposes a person to more smoke over a longer period of time than do cigarettes.

The health agency said a person can inhale more than 100 times more smoke in a hookah session than in a single cigarette. By delivering nicotine, the water pipe can cause addiction. Preliminary research also indicates that hookah smoking may involve ”some unique health risks,” WHO said.

A hookah typically consists of a bowl connected to a vase of water with a long tube and mouthpiece. The tobacco sits inside the bowl with a layer of foil and a hot coal on top. The shisha is not lit, instead heated by the charcoal, which users say produces a vapor different from smoke.

”None of the accessories have been demonstrated to reduce smokers’ exposure to toxins or risk of tobacco-related disease and death,” WHO said.

While further research is required, the health body said those exposed to secondhand hookah smoke appeared to be at risk of the same diseases as those exposed to cigarettes. WHO warned that hookah smoke could also increase the risk of adverse effects during pregnancy.

Also Tuesday, WHO issued its strongest policy recommendations yet for controlling tobacco use, urging all countries to ban smoking at indoor workplaces and in public buildings.

Tobacco use is the world’s leading cause of preventable death, accounting for 10 percent of adult fatalities, according to WHO. It is responsible for 5.4 million deaths each year, a figure that is expected to rise to 8.3 million by 2030, the agency says.

Increasing numbers of nonsmokers will also die unless governments take action, WHO said. It said governments of both rich and poor countries should declare all public indoor places smoke-free, by passing laws and actively enforcing measures to ensure that ”everyone has a right to breathe clean air, free from tobacco smoke.”