Smoking hookah no safe alternative to cigarettes

Do you believe smoking hookah is safer than smoking cigarettes? Think twice. A single session of hookah can lead to greater exposure to carbon monoxide than smoking a single cigarette, and causes harm to the heart and blood vessels, say researchers, including one of an Indian-origin. 

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The findings showed that during a hookah smoking session that typically lasts for 30 or more minutes, users inhale many litres of smoke filled with large quantities of particulate matter at higher concentrations.

Even short-term exposure to carbon monoxide in hookahs is toxic and can interfere with exercise capacity. Hookah smoke also contains other harmful chemicals including nicotine, air pollutants, volatile organic chemicals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, acrolein, lead, cadmium and arsenic that can affect the cardiovascular system. Most of these toxins are higher in hookah than cigarette smoke, said the study published in the journal Circulation.—IANS