Hookah
Still the original hookah is often used in rural South Asia, which continues to use tumbak (a pure and coarse form of unflavored tobacco leaves) and smoked by burning it directly with charcoal.
[22] While this method delivers a much higher content of tobacco and nicotine, it also incurs more adverse health effects compared to vaporizing hookahs.
[1][27] The widespread use of the Indian word "hookah" in the English language is a result of the colonization in British India (1858–1947), when large numbers of expatriate Britons first sampled the water pipe.
Persian qalyan is included in the earliest European compendium on tobacco, the tobacologia written by Johan Neander and published in Dutch in 1622.
[45] In the Indian city of Fatehpur Sikri, Roman Catholic missionaries of the Society of Jesus arriving from the southern part of the country introduced tobacco to the Mughal emperor Akbar the Great (1542–1605 AD).
[14][47][48] However, a quatrain of Ahlī Shirazi (d. 1535), a Persian poet, refers to the use of the ḡalyān (Falsafī, II, p. 277; Semsār, 1963, p. 15), thus dating its use at least as early as the time of the Shah Ṭahmāsp I.
New materials make modern hookahs more durable, eliminate odors while smoking and allow washing without risks of corrosion or bacterial decay.
There are several chain clubs, bars and coffee shops in India offering a wider variety of mu‘assels, including non-tobacco versions.
The man was waited upon by the Prime Minister of Great Britain William Pitt the Younger, and then dined with the Duke of York before presenting himself in front of George III.
"[64] The ban was soon lifted later that year and women returned to smoking in popular venues like the cafe of Gaza's Crazy Water Park.
However, the earliest known literary evidence of the hookah, anywhere, comes in a quatrain by Ahlī Shirazi (d. 1535), a Persian poet, referring to the use of the ḡalyān,[66] thus dating its use at least as early as the time of the Shah Ṭahmāsp I.
[citation needed] Although the Safavid Shah ʿAbbās I strongly condemned tobacco use, towards the end of his reign smoking ḡalyān and čopoq had become common on every level of the society, women included.
[71] An emissary of Sultan Husayn (r. 1722–32) to the court of Louis XV of France, on his way to the royal audience at Versailles, had in his retinue an officer holding his ḡalyān, which he used while his carriage was in motion.
[citation needed] The Iranian Shia marja' Mirza Shirazi issued his historical fatwa: "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Beneficent.
The fatwa sparked a huge movement to the extent that even in the private quarters of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (r. 1848–1896), hookahs were broken.
[80] Western Turkey is noted for its traditional pottery production where potters make earthenware objects, including nargile bowls.
[82][citation needed] Hookah was virtually unknown in Southeast Asia before the latter 20th century, yet the popularity among contemporary younger people is now vastly growing.
[citation needed] Although hookah use has been common for hundreds of years and enjoyed by people of all ages, it has recently started to become a youth pastime in Asia.
[87][88] In South Africa, hookah, colloquially known as a hubbly bubbly or an okka pipe, is popular among the Cape Malay and Indian populations, wherein it is smoked as a social pastime.
[90] Bars that additionally provide hookahs are becoming more prominent, although smoking is normally done at home or in public spaces such as beaches and picnic sites.
Today, hookahs are readily available for sale at smoke shops and some gas stations across the United States, along with a variety of tobacco brands and accessories.
[93] From the year 2000 to 2004, over 200 new hookah cafés opened for business, most of them targeted at young adults[94] and located near college campuses or cities with large Middle-Eastern communities.
[101] The jar at the bottom of the hookah is filled with water sufficient to submerge a few centimeters (an inch or two) of the body tube, which is sealed tightly to it.
It then passes through the tobacco mixture where due to hot air convection and thermal conduction from the coal, the mainstream aerosol is produced.
When a user inhales from the hose, smoke passes into the lungs, and the change in pressure in the jar pulls more air through the charcoal, continuing the process.
[106][107] The toxic chemicals include tobacco-specific nitrosamines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs; e.g., benzo[a]pyrene and anthracene), volatile aldehydes (e.g. formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein), benzene, nitric oxide, heavy metals (arsenic, chromium, lead), and carbon monoxide (CO).
[115][119][120] Carbon monoxide (CO) in hookah smoke binds to hemoglobin in the blood to form carboxyhemoglobin, which reduces the amount of oxygen that can be transported to organs including the brain.
There are several case reports in the medical literature of hookah smokers needing treatment in hospital emergency rooms for symptoms of CO poisoning including headache, nausea, lethargy, and fainting.
[11] Studies have found that concentrations of particulate matter in the air of hookah bars were in the unhealthy to hazardous range according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards.
[134] The air in hookah bars also contains significant amounts of toxic chemicals, including aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nicotine, and trace metals.
