Young Adults Believe Hookahs are Safer than Cigarettes: Study

Several young adults believe that using hookahs is safer than smoking cigarettes, a new study states.

The study, conducted by researchers at the UCLA School of Nursing, found that young patrons of hookah still assume that using hookahs is less dangerous than smoking cigarettes.

A recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had revealed that at least one in every five high school seniors has used a hookah. CDC maintains that hookah-use is as dangerous to health as cigarette smoking.

Hookah is an ancient form of smoking. A typical hookah has charcoal-heated smoke that is passed through water. CDC states that the charcoal in hookah releases carbon monoxide and several cancer-causing chemicals.

For the study, researchers visited three Southern California hookah lounges and asked hookah users questions about the water-pipes. The team found that over half of the respondents (57 percent) believed that hookah-use doesn't harm health. Around 47 percent of the participant said that the water in hookah filters the smoke, while 35 percent said that the fruit flavors detoxify tobacco's harmful chemicals.

According to researchers, none of these ideas about hookah-use are true.

"With hookah smoking on the rise, particularly among young adults, our goal was to identify factors influencing perceptions, attitudes and preferences toward hookah smoking," said Mary Rezk-Hanna, a UCLA nursing doctoral student and lead researcher for the study, according to a news release.

Hookah is exempted from clean indoor air legislation such as the California Clean Air Act, which has helped its popularity in the U.S go unchecked.

Hookahs are marketed towards young adults who frequent hookah lounges or bars. Researchers found that a disproportionate number of hookah bars are located near colleges and universities.

About 60 percent of the people in the current study said that visiting hookah bars is a trendy way of socializing with peers. Even those who knew hookahs were harmful, said that "socializing with friends appeared to outweigh health concerns," Rezk-Hanna said in a news release.

The study is published in the journal Nursing Research.