Tobacco cigarettes and hookah: what is more harmful?

Every smoker nowadays knows that smoking is harmful. However smoking is personal chose and even more that, leave it up to a smoker to choose what to smoke. But many non-smokers complain about second hand smoke from tobacco cigarettes and stinky aroma. Thus some smokers switch from cheap cigarettes to less irritating smoking meanings such as hookah. Let's make a closer look to hookah smoking in comparison with tobacco cigs.

In our time, according to the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 100 million people daily are smoking hookah. The main feature of shisha (hookah) is tobacco smoke filtered through a liquid, usually water. It is believed that in such way the smoke is cleared from the mass of harmful and toxic impurities frankly. In addition, the tobacco in hookah burns at a special place and is not wrapped in a paper - an additional source of the heap is not very pleasant impurities.

The data on the study of the effect on the health from hookah smoking are few; however, an interesting picture emerges. According to a paper published by an international group of researchers (Syria, USA, Germany) in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, it turns out that the nicotine content in tobacco cigarette and hookah tobacco is about the same, although they differ on a number of other characteristics. But marketers are in full mislead consumers, pointing to the packs of hookah tobacco, "0.5% nicotine 0% tar".

The assumption that the water in the hookah filters out efficiently and effectively the main toxins of tobacco smoke, too, was not confirmed. They found several studies on the comparative analysis of camel cigarette and hookah smoke, and one of the main respiratory poisons - carbon monoxide (CO). Dependence was obtained as follows - the more the water pipe, the less "carbon" smoke gets smoker. Cigarettes on the release of CO during combustion housed somewhere in the middle between large and small models of a "water pipes".

It was also found that despite the lower combustion temperature (600-650 C in a hookah against the 800-1000 C in cigarettes), products of sublimation in hookah smoke a lot. And the content of some organic substances, such as phenanthrene, chrysene, or fluoranthene hookah "filtered" the smoke is much greater than cigarette smoke.

Generally, in the hookah culture there are a few things that do not make a hookah safer than cigarettes. First of all - the duration of the process: on average it takes about 30 minutes, as opposed to 3 minutes per cigarette. 25 grams of "hookah tobacco" Egyptian scientists have equated to 60 cigarettes. For inhalation of hookah smoke has to make a considerable effort, resulting in a negative impact of tobacco combustion products enter and lower parts of the lungs.

Another feature which should not be dismissed is hookah smoking "in a circle." With saliva can be passed an impressive list of diseases, and of greatest concern is tuberculosis. The same Egyptian physicians (in Egypt, hookah is extremely popular, including among tourists) warn that even the replacement of the mouthpiece will not help as harmful mycobacteria can be in the water of the device.

Doctors in different countries have expressed concern about the growing popularity of hookahs, especially among young people. The authorities of France and Bahrain, for example, are keen to prevent such pastime.

Thus smoking regular tobacco cigarettes have no better and safer analogs so far, at least hookah smoking is even more harmful as proved above. You're welcome to buy cheap cigarettes in our online store and enjoy smoking them!

Published: Friday, July 20, 2012