FACTS ABOUT SHEESHA

Waterpipe smokers are at risk of the same kind of diseases as are caused by cigarette smoking, including cancer, heart disease, respiratory disease and adverse effects during pregnancy.

• Using a waterpipe to smoke tobacco poses a serious potential health hazard to smokers and others exposed to the smoke.

• Sheesha smoke contains high levels of chemicals and poisons, including carbon monoxide, tar and heavy metals.

• Many of these chemicals are known to cause mouth and lung cancers, heart disease, respiratory and other diseases.

• Even though it has passed through water, the levels of toxins in sheesha smoke can be as high or higher than in cigarette smoke.

• Water-pipe smokers may absorb higher concentrations of these chemicals because of higher concentrations in the smoke itself, or because they may smoke for several hours at a time and may inhale moisturized, less irritating smoke more deeply.

• In a sheesha session lasting 60 minutes, a smoker can inhale as much smoke as a cigarette smoker would inhale from 100 – 200 cigarettes.

• Second-hand smoke from sheesha is an extremely harmful mixture of tobacco smoke and smoke from the fuel (charcoal).

• Non smokers, particularly pregnant women, babies, children and the elderly are at risk from breathing in sheesha smoke.

Using a waterpipe to smoke tobacco is NOT a safe alternative to cigarette smoking.

Sources:
World Health Organisation, TobReg, “Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking: Heath Effects, Research Needs and Recommended Actions by Regulators”. 2005
Kamal Chaouachi, A critique of the WHO TobReg’s “Advisory Note” report entitled: “Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking: Heath Effects,
Research Needs and Recommended Actions by Regulators”. Journal of Negative Results in BioMedicine 2006, 5:17 Pam Rees, Directorate of Public Health, 2007