‘Healthier’ alternative more deadly than cigarettes
Smoking a hubbly bubbly may seem like a harmless social activity but don't be fooled, it's actually very dangerous to your health.
A few teens sitting on the floor passing a hubbly-bubbly pipe between them is a normal scene at parties. A large number of teens, and adults, enjoy smoking it on a regular basis as they believe it’s much healthier than cigarettes.
A hubbly bubbly, also known as a hub, hookah, water pipe, shisha or goza, is an instrument for smoking tobacco. It consists of a base container, usually made from glass, with one or many smoking tubes attached to it. The tobacco smoke is cooled by passing it through the water in the container before it is inhaled.
Most smokers are fond of the flavoured tobacco, which ranges from cherry and grape to rose and blue mix.
Contrary to popular belief, the hubbly bubbly is actually much more dangerous than smoking cigarettes. During last year’s CANSA World No Tobacco Day, Prof Michael Herbst, head of health at the organisation, spoke about the use thereof. “There’s a misconception that the water pipe, which is a fashionable accessory at many social gatherings, offers a harmless way of sharing a recreational drug that has no side effects. The truth is that water-pipe and second-hand smokers are at risk of the same diseases that are caused by cigarettes, including cancer, heart and respiratory diseases, as well as adverse effects during pregnancy.”
Because it contains nicotine, the more frequently you smoke it, the greater your chances are of becoming addicted. The charcoal burnt in the pipes can also pose a health risk as it produces its own toxins. The smoke includes high levels of carbon monoxide and cancer-causing chemicals. Thus everyone who is exposed to the smoke, both smokers and those around them, inhale a double dose of toxins.
When comparing hubbly with cigarettes, the facts are quite shocking. The World Health Organisation has found that cigarette smokers typically take eight to 12 puffs over about five to seven minutes and inhale 0,5 to 0,6 litres of smoke. In contrast, a hubbly smoker takes between 50 and
200 puffs in a session ranging from
20 to 80 minutes and inhale from 0,15 to one litre of smoke per puff. This means that the person could inhale the equivalent of 100 or more cigarettes in one session.
Because of the serious health risks associated with its use, countries in North America and Europe are currently working on legislation to ban the use of hubblies. They have already been banned in several areas around the world, including the Middle East and Asia.
In South Africa the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act (2007) defines water pipes, like the hubbly and related products, as a tobacco product. This means that the same regulations that apply to cigarettes and tobacco, apply to hubblies. These include that no one under 18 may be sold a hubbly or tobacco-related product.
Another fact that is used to motivate the use thereof is that the smoke passes through water before it is inhaled. The truth is that the water doesn’t clean the smoke. Both cigarette and hubbly smoke contain nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide, arsenic and lead. Arsenic is used as rat poison, carbon monoxide is a deadly gas also found in vehicle-exhaust fumes and lead can damage the nervous system.
Although the water absorbs some of the nicotine, smokers are still exposed to enough to be addictive. They can take in as much nicotine as contained in 10 cigarettes.
It also contains 36 times more tar and eight times more carbon monoxide than from a single cigarette.
As scientists are just starting to investigate the health risks that water-pipe smoking hold, but because it is so similar to cigarette smoke, it is likely that many tobacco-related diseases will be linked to its use.
Hazards include damage to the lungs, cancer of the mouth, lungs and bladder, and even heart disease. Because you share a pipe with other people, you also share germs. Tuberculosis and the herpes can be passed on in such a way.
Now that you have the facts, think twice before lighting up that little coal. The smoke may smell amazing for a few minutes, but the side effects could last a lifetime.
Sources: https://www.cansa.org.za/busting-the-hubbly-bubbly-myth/, https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/tobacco_industry/hookahs/.
