Warning: Hookah fumes contain killer chemicals

Hookahs have become popular among students across America - but new research has found they contain damaging chemicals.

A new study has found fumes from the water pipes contain the toxin benzene, which has been linked to an increased risk for leukemia.

Researchers have previously warned of an impending health epidemic caused by a huge rise in the number of students smoking hookah pipes. 

A recent study found 18% of high school seniors have reported engaging in behavior researchers describe as 'equivalent to smoking 10-40 cigarettes in a single sitting, and then kissing everybody as well'.

The latest research, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, caused researchers to call for better education on the use of hookahs.

'In contrast to what is believed, hookah tobacco smoking is not a safe alternative to smoking other forms of tobacco,' Nada Kassem of San Diego State University said. 

Researchers analyzed levels of S-phenylmercapturic acid (SPMA) - a metabolite (byproduct) of benzene - in the urine of 105 hookah smokers and 103 nonsmokers exposed to smoke from the water pipes.

After an event in a hookah lounge, SPMA levels were four times higher than normal in hookah smokers and 2.6 times higher than normal among people who had attended but hadn't puffed on a hookah. 

After a hookah-smoking event in a private home, SPMA levels were two times higher among hookah smokers, but normal among nonsmokers.

'Hookah tobacco smoking involves the use of burning charcoal that is needed to heat the hookah tobacco to generate the smoke that the smoker inhales,' Kassem explained.

'In addition to inhaling toxicants and carcinogens found in the hookah tobacco smoke, hookah smokers and nonsmokers who socialize with hookah smokers also inhale large quantities of charcoal combustion-generated toxic and carcinogenic emissions,' she said.

Kassem believes that 'because there is no safe level of exposure to benzene, our results call for interventions to reduce or prevent hookah tobacco use, regulatory actions to limit hookah-related exposure to toxicants including benzene, and include hookah smoking in clean indoor air legislation.'

Researchers have previously warned of an impending health epidemic caused by a huge rise in the number of students smoking hookah pipes.

A study by researchers affiliated with New York University's Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (CDUHR), in the August 2014 edition of Pediatrics identifies how prevalent Hookah use is and which teens are most likely to be using it.

The researchers found the annual prevalence (use in the last 12 months) of hookah use was nearly 1 in 5 high school seniors.

'What we find most interesting is that students of higher socioeconomic status appear to be more likely to use hookah,' said Joseph Palamar of NYU Langone Medical Center. 

'Surprisingly, students with more educated parents or higher personal income are at high risk for use. 

'We also found that hookah use is more common in cities, especially big cities.

'So hookah use is much different from cigarette use, which is more common in non-urban areas.' 

Mark Prigg