Not So Much With The Nargila
…Or, rather, a bit too much.
A recent study from Science Daily notes that hookah smoking is perhaps significantly worse for you than regular smoking, and causes exactly the same kind of damage.
“People who use these devices don’t realize that they could be inhaling what is believed to be the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes in one typical 30-60 minute session with a waterpipe, because such a large quantity of pure, shredded tobacco is used,” said Christopher Loffredo, Ph.D., Director of the Cancer Genetics and Epidemiology program at Georgetown University Medical Center.
…”People think the water absorbs the toxins, and that is true to some extent if the toxins are water soluble, but tar isn’t, and tar contains the carcinogens,” he said. “We believe that, compared to the typical cigarette smoker, waterpipe smokers are exposed to larger total amounts of nicotine, carbon monoxide and certain other toxins.”
And because the tobacco is burning at a lower temperature, it is more tolerable to inhale deeply, and in fact you need more force to pull air through the high resistance of the water pathway,” Loffredo said. “That means the tobacco smoke can be penetrating deeper in a person’s respiratory tract than cigarette smoke does. The damage could be even worse than seen in cigarette smokers….”
Full story here.
thanks so much. so many of my friends think it is totally cool becuase of the water filter. ill let them know.
Hmm. Count me in among the ignorant fools. I thought that nargila was safer than ciggies. Think it’s time for a reassesment of our relationship.
wait, that’s TOBACCO in those hookahs?! Man. Things have changed since I went to college. *cough!*
There was a really thorough article in the Globe & Mail about this last year. It sparked a lot of debate among youth/young adults and many follow up articles were written, and debates were aired on the CBC about it.
Most of the tobacco or molasses that people use contains 0.25% tar and nicotine, Ciggaretees contain much larger quantities.
Also consider that most of nargila based cases of lung disease (of which there are very little) are caused by the poor quality of the coals.
If a user simply puts more of the molasses in the ceramic top then the poisonous carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide gases that emit from the carbon coal will be filterd out. Another way of fixing this to make smaller holes in the foil or to use much thinner foil transfer more of the heat, which is what the coal is used.
Over the years I have concluded that this actually makes the Nargila more affective atmaking more relaxed and light headed and the taste much more intense.