Is smoking hookah bad for your health?
There is specially made tobacco for Hookah pipes and this tobacco is heated, and the smoke passes through water pipe and is then drawn through a rubber hose to a mouthpiece. When smoking tobacco in a hookah pipe it no less toxic than cigarette smoking, because the hookah pipe does not filter out the toxic ingredients in the tobacco smoke. Hookah smokers may actually inhale more tobacco smoke than cigarette smokers because of the large volume of smoke they inhale in one smoking session.
Evidence shows that hookah smoking poses many dangers:
- Hookah smoke contains high levels of toxic compounds, which include: tar, carbon monoxide, heavy metals and cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens). In fact, hookah smokers are exposed to more carbon monoxide and smoke than are cigarette smokers.
- Hookah smoking is linked to lung and oral cancers, heart disease, and other serious illnesses.
- Hookah smoking delivers about the same amount of nicotine as cigarette smoking, which can leading dependence on tobacco.
- Hookah pipes used in hookah bars and cafes may not be cleaned properly, risking the spread of infectious diseases.
