Hookah smokers inhale large amount of toxicants

Washington: If you inhale Hookah thinking they are healthier way to smoke tobacco, then you are surely putting your health at stake as hookah smokers can inhale a large potentially dangerous quantity of toxins in just one session.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Science have found that as compared with a single cigarette, one hookah session can deliver approximately 125 times the smoke, 25 times the tar, 2.5 times the nicotine and 10 times the carbon monoxide.

Lead author Brian A. Primack, M.D., Ph.D., assistant vice chancellor for health and society in Pitt's Schools of the Health Sciences, said comparing a hookah smoking session to smoking a single cigarette is a complex comparison to make because of the differences in smoking patterns.

A frequent cigarette smoker may smoke 20 cigarettes per day, while a frequent hookah smoker may only participate in a few hookah sessions each day.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that, for the first time in history, past 30-day use of hookah tobacco was higher than past 30-day use of cigarettes among U.S. high school students.

Additionally, about one-third of U.S. college students have smoked tobacco from a hookah and many of those individuals were not previous users of other forms of tobacco.

The study is published in the Journal Public Health Reports.