Alternative tobacco products are equally harmful

Researchers say smoke emitted from shishas and dokhas contain a wide range of compounds.

A team of researchers at the American University of Sharjah (AUS) has dispelled the notion that alternative tobacco products (ATPs) such as shisha and medwakh (a small smoking pipe popular in the region) are less harmful than cigarettes.

Research on a wide variety of commercially popular shisha charcoals and dokha tobacco (a tobacco usually mixed with herbs and spices and used in medwakh) conducted at the university has shown the presence of trace metals such as iron, lead, cadmium, chromium, cobalt and manganese at concentrations similar to, if not higher than, cigarettes. It was also found that smoke emitted from these ATPs contain a wide range of compounds including carcinogens and central nervous system (CNS) depressants that can adversely impact health.

A research group from the department of biology, chemistry and environmental sciences carried out the health risk assessment and chemical analysis of shisha and medwakh smoke for a number of years, with Dr Yehya El-Sayed, associate professor in biology, chemistry and environmental sciences, and Dr Sarah Dalibalta, assistant professor in biology, chemistry and environmental sciences, sharing their findings at the Society of Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) since 2012.
Also read: It's not just smoke, cigarette butts kill, too

Dr El-Sayed said that a robotic machine was used to simulate the human smoking process under controlled puffing conditions.

He added that there were also reported cases of induced seizures among dokha smokers which resulted from the extremely high nicotine concentrations as well as cases of carbon monoxide intoxication among shisha smokers.

"Our research has identified many CNS depressants which could be associated with symptoms such as dizziness, in-coordination, nausea, unconsciousness, fatigue, drowsiness, tension and sweating which have been reported among smokers of dokha and shisha," he said.

"We also identified many irritants to the eye, skin, nose, gastrointestinal and respiratory tract in the smoke of shisha and dokha."

The team has also has expanded its research focus to include other types of ATPs such as e-cigarettes and vapes.

Health benefits of smoking cessation

- Within 20 minutes, your heart rate and blood pressure drop.

- 12 hours, the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.

- 2-12 weeks, your circulation improves and your lung function increases.

- 1-9 months, coughing and shortness of breath decrease.

- 1 year, your risk of coronary heart disease is about half that of a smoker.

- 5 years, your stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker 5 to 15 years after quitting.

- 10 years, your risk of lung cancer falls to about half that of a smoker and your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix, and pancreas decreases.

- 15 years, the risk of coronary heart disease is that of a nonsmoker's.

- Quitting smoking decreases the excess risk of many diseases related to second-hand smoke in children, such as respiratory diseases (e.g., asthma) and ear infections - WHO

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai

Asma Ali Zain

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com