The rising popularity of traditional shisha smoking is causing concern. Here Allison Coggan talks to health education workers in Hull about the health impact of the trend.
IT HAS many names but nothing can disguise the serious damage caused to your health by shisha smoking.
Hubbly-bubbly, hookah or shisha – the names given to smoking on a Turkish water pipe – mask a very dangerous trend that has swept the UK since 2007, with a number of specialist bars opening in Hull.
The World Health Organisation warns an hour-long shisha session causes as much damage as smoking 100 cigarettes because of the harmful chemicals found in shisha tobacco.
While it might be masked by sweet flavouring, it contains exactly the same cancer-causing toxins that lead to lung cancer and heart disease. But there are other dangers. People pass the mouthpiece from person to person, putting themselves and others at risk of tuberculosis (TB) and hepatitis.
Now, students across Hull are being given vital information on avoiding the risk to their health.
Actors dressed up as Greek God Herpes, Captain Hepatitis and TB Or Not TB to warn students at the University of Hull, Hull College and shoppers at St Stephen's in the city centre of the risks of smoking shisha pipes.
Casey Watts, who organised the event for Hull City Council, said: "The purpose is to give information to students in a non-patronising way about the dangers of shisha smoking.
"We've been doing performances with the three actors and it's been very well received.
"Nine times out of ten, people are not aware of the dangers and tell us they have tried it on holiday or with friends but they didn't know about the risks."
While the smoke in shishas passes through water, it does not, as many believe, absorb the harmful chemicals. Instead, the tobacco still contains carcinogens, which cause deadly harm to the DNA in the body.
The water pipe is mainly used in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, but increased travel to countries including Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia has seen it spread to Europe and the UK.
Tobacco is burned using charcoal sitting in a bowl above water. Smoke passes through the water and down a pipe and is inhaled through the mouth.
Shisha smoking is governed by the same laws as cigarette smoking and the ban on smoking in public places applies. It means they should not be smoked inside public places including cafés, bars and shisha bars.
Hull City Council enforces the law and has already taken legal action against premises which flout the ban on smoking in public places, which carry fines of up to £2,500 for anyone who fails to prevent smoking while the person caught smoking can face a fixed penalty of £50 or a fine of up to £200.
All tobacco products used for shisha pipes must display pictorial messages and either of the warnings, "smoking kills" or "smoking seriously harms you and others around you" on 30 per cent of the front packaging, the same labelling found on cigarette packets.
Tobacco control officer Paul Colclough, of Hull City Council, said he had visited shisha bars and discovered tobacco being sold in reused ice cream cartons without appropriate labelling.
Anyone breaching the rules over the sale of tobacco by failing to display the warnings and explain the dangers to health is given a written warning, with the potential for legal action against any retailer who fails to comply with the legislation governing the sale of tobacco products.
Mr Colclough said: "In the first instance, people get a written warning and then we do follow-up visits to ensure they are complying with the law.
"It is often down to a lack of knowledge over the legislation and that is why we go about educating people."
Graduates Jess Morley and Rachael Abby were just some of the young people learning about the dangers of shisha pipes during the event at the University of Hull.
Jess said: "I didn't have a clue about the dangers. I've shared houses with people who have had shisha pipes, but I never did it and I never will.
"I wouldn't enjoy sucking a pipe that other people have been sucking on. It's absolutely disgusting."
Rachael said: "I can totally understand why it might be tempting because of the flavours they use but people don't realise it's just as bad as smoking. I knew it was dangerous so I've never considered it since I learned how dangerous it is." Dangers of shisha smoking
SHISHA smoking is a serious risk to health and can be even more harmful than smoking cigarettes.
A person can inhale up to 200 times more smoke, 70 times more nicotine and 30 times more tar in an hour of smoking a shisha compared with smoking a single cigarette.
Smokers of shisha pipes also inhale higher levels of lead, nickel and arsenic.
Sharing a shisha pipe can spread diseases including oral herpes, tuberculosis and hepatitis.
Smoking shisha through bubbling water does not filter out dangerous toxins.
Fruit flavours are used to disguise tobacco found in shisha, but do not be fooled – it is there in high quantities.
So-called "tobacco-
free" shisha isn't safe, as smokers can still inhale dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.
Shisha tobacco contains addictive nicotine, so the longer the smoking session, the more nicotine and toxins inhaled.
