Hookah generates much more fine particles and carbon monoxide than cigarettes. A source of dangerous indoor pollution for the most vulnerable.
The shisha makes the air in the house unbreathable. To believe one study presented in the journal Tobacco control, hookah generates much more carbon monoxide and emits twice as many fine particles of 2.5 microns or less – able to lodge in the deepest branches of the lungs – than cigarettes.
These worrying results were obtained after analyzing the air quality of 33 houses in Dubai (United Arab Emirates). Researchers from New York University in collaboration with Abu Dhabi University measured pollution levels in 11 homes where only shisha is used, 12 homes that smoke cigarettes and 10 homes that do not smoke.
The surveys carried out in the rooms dedicated to smoking and the adjacent rooms show that the hookah is the most harmful. In shisha-loving households, PM2.5 levels were 489 micrograms / m3 in rooms where it was used, and 211 micrograms / m3 in adjacent rooms. In homes where only cigarettes were used, these fine particle levels did not exceed 201 micrograms / m3.
And on the carbon monoxide side, the concentration was 4 times greater with shisha than with cigarettes (11 ppm against 2.3). While in non-smoking homes, carbon monoxide concentration was around 1.5 ppm while fine particle levels averaged 93 micrograms / m3.
Danger of passive smoking
Rates far exceeding the limit values set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The agency recommends not to exceed 87 ppm of carbon monoxide for 15 minutes, or 9 ppm for 8 hours. For airborne particles of 2.5 microns, it recommends limiting exposure to 25 micrograms / m3 more than 3 days a year.
“Smoking hookah at home can be terribly dangerous for the smoker, but even more so for children and other household members exposed to secondhand smoke,” said Dr. Michael Weitzman, lead author of the study. In the columns of Reuters, the scientist worried about the increasing use of this practice around the world, pointing out that shisha smokers are not aware of the risks.
However, the scientific literature abounds on the subject. The most recent work has shown that during a session, the user inhales 125 times more smoke than when smoking a cigarette, but also 25 times more tar and 10 times more carbon monoxide. Catastrophic amounts that promote the development of lung disease and cancer. And as Dr Weitzman pointed out, the non-smoking entourage is not spared. A study has shown that shisha bar bartenders exposed to secondhand smoke are just as intoxicated as heavy tobacco smokers.
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