Publications
Partners
According to Reuters, young Americans are smoking fewer cigarettes, but researchers say that progress is threatened by an increasingly popular cultural import - the tall, ornate water pipe known as the hookah.
What started as a fad for smoking exotic and flavour-soaked tobacco in hookah bars is showing worrisome staying power, according to a study. "This may serve as a starter product for other tobacco uses," said Erin L. Sutfin, assistant professor and lead author of the study.
Hookah smokers who don't move on to other products - such as cigarettes, cigars or smokeless tobacco - still face health threats from the hookah smoke, Sutfin said.
The smoke, often inhaled more deeply because it is cooled by water and flavourful, contains high levels of toxic compounds, including tar, carbon monoxide, heavy metals and cancer-causing chemicals.
Tell us: Would you let your teen smoke hookah? Vote and comment below.
What started as a fad for smoking exotic and flavour-soaked tobacco in hookah bars is showing worrisome staying power, according to a study. "This may serve as a starter product for other tobacco uses," said Erin L. Sutfin, assistant professor and lead author of the study.
Hookah smokers who don't move on to other products - such as cigarettes, cigars or smokeless tobacco - still face health threats from the hookah smoke, Sutfin said.
The smoke, often inhaled more deeply because it is cooled by water and flavourful, contains high levels of toxic compounds, including tar, carbon monoxide, heavy metals and cancer-causing chemicals.
Tell us: Would you let your teen smoke hookah? Vote and comment below.
