Waterpipe smoking health risks

Toxic exposure similar to cigarette smoking

Waterpipe (hookah/shisha) tobacco smoking has spread worldwide. Many waterpipe smokers believe that, in comparison with cigarettes, waterpipes have lower smoke toxicant levels and fewer health risks. For doctors to address these beliefs credibly, the paper’s authors Thomas Eissenberg and Alan Shilhadeh directly compared waterpipe use and cigarette smoking.

They concluded that, relative to cigarette smoking, waterpipe use is associated with more exposure to carbon monoxide, similar exposure to nicotine, and dramatically more smoke exposure. Physicians should consider advising their patients that waterpipe tobacco smoking exposes them to some of the same toxic substances as cigarette smoking, and therefore the two tobacco-smoking methods are likely to share some of the same health risks.

Source: American Journal of Preventative Medicine, December 2009.

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