Hookah resources for global health researchers

March / April 2014 | Volume 13, Issue 2

The use of hookahs, or waterpipes, to smoke tobacco and herbal products is increasing in global popularity, but there is little or no regulation of them.

The following resources may be useful to researchers and policymakers working to contribute to the body of hookah smoking research, and to educate smokers about associated health risks.

Toxicity research | Behavior research | Advocacy articles | Advocacy orgs | Fact sheets

Toxicity of hookah smoking - research findings

• Recent publications on hookah smoking research supported by NIH, as listed in PubMed

• The waterpipe: an emerging global risk for cancer
  November 26, 2012 (online), Cancer Epidemiology
• The effects of waterpipe tobacco smoking on health outcomes: a systematic review
  March 4, 2010 (online), International Journal of Epidemiology
• Waterpipe tobacco smoking: an emerging health crisis in the United States
  May 1, 2010, American Journal of Health Behavior
• Comparison of nicotine and carcinogen exposure with water pipe and cigarette smoking
  March 5, 2013 (online), Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention
• Waterpipe tobacco smoking and cigarette smoking: a direct comparison of toxicant exposure and subjective effects
  December 2, 2010 (online), Nicotine and Tobacco Research
• Waterpipe tobacco and cigarette smoking: direct comparison of toxicant exposure
  December 2009, American Journal of Preventive Medicine
• Comparison of carcinogen, carbon monoxide, and ultrafine particle emissions from narghile waterpipe and cigarette smoking: Sidestream smoke measurements and assessment of second-hand smoke emission factors
  January 1, 2010, Atmospheric Environmental
• Acute effects of waterpipe tobacco smoking: a double-blind, placebo-control study
  July 1, 2011, Drug and Alcohol Dependence
• Nicotine, carbon monoxide, and carcinogen exposure after a single use of a water pipe
  September 9, 2011 (online), Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention
• CO exposure, puff topography, and subjective effects in waterpipe tobacco smokers
  May 6, 2009 (online), Nicotine and Tobacco Research
• Phenolic compounds in particles of mainstream waterpipe smoke
  November 22, 2012 (online), Nicotine and Tobacco Research
• Waterpipe-associated particulate matter emissions
  March 2008, Nicotine and Tobacco Research
• Volatile aldehydes in the mainstream smoke of the narghile waterpipe
  September 11, 2008 (online), Food and Chemical Toxicology
• Charcoal burning as a source of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in waterpipe smoking
  September 5, 2013 (online), Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part B: Pesticides, Food Contaminants, and Agricultural Wastes
• In vitro effects of waterpipe smoke condensate on endothelial cell function: a potential risk factor for vascular disease
  February 28, 2013, Toxicology Letters
• In vitro cytotoxicity and mutagenicity of mainstream waterpipe smoke and its functional consequences on alveolar type II derived cells
  April 10, 2012 (online), Toxicology Letters
• Assessment of DNA damage using chromosomal aberrations assay in lymphocytes of waterpipe smokers
  June 2012, International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health
• Genotoxic effects of waterpipe smoking on the buccal mucosa cells
  July 9, 2008 (online), Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis
• Acute exposure to waterpipe tobacco smoke induces changes in the oxidative and inflammatory markers in mouse lung
  August 2012, Inhalation Toxicology
• Comparative analysis of waterpipe and cigarette suppression of abstinence and craving symptoms
  May 2011, Addictive Behaviors

Hookah smoking behavior - scientific papers

• The global epidemic of waterpipe smoking
  January-February 2011, Addictive Behaviors
• Tobacco smoking using a waterpipe: a re-emerging strain in a global epidemic
  December 2004, Tobacco Control
• Smoking trajectories across high school: sensation seeking and hookah use
  January 15, 2013, Nicotine and Tobacco Research
• Understanding tobacco-related attitudes among college and noncollege young adult hookah and cigarette users
  December 7, 2013, Journal of American College Health
• Characteristics of U.S. waterpipe users: a preliminary report
  December 2007, Nicotine and Tobacco Research
• Waterpipe tobacco smoking: knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behavior in two U.S. samples
  February 2008, Nicotine and Tobacco Research
• Factors associated with perceptions of hookah addictiveness and harmfulness among young adults
  January 17, 2013, Substance Abuse
• Waterpipe smoking among U.S. university students
  May 28, 2012 (online), Nicotine and Tobacco Research
• A descriptive study of waterpipe smoking among college students
  September 24, 2012 (online), Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners
• Associations between hookah tobacco smoking knowledge and hookah smoking behavior among US college students
  September 15, 2012 (online), Health Education Research
• Waterpipe and cigarette smoking among college athletes in the United States
  January 2010, The Journal of Adolescent Health
• Predictors of initiation of hookah tobacco smoking: a one-year prospective study of first-year college women
  December 2012, Psychology of Addictive Behaviors
• Prevalence, frequency, and initiation of hookah tobacco smoking among first-year female college students: a one-year longitudinal study
  February 2012, Addictive Behaviors
• Prevalence of and associations with waterpipe tobacco smoking among U.S. university students
  August 22, 2008 (online), Annals of Behavioral Medicine
• Beliefs and norms associated with smoking tobacco using a waterpipe among college students
  April 4, 2012 (online), Journal of Addictions Nursing
• Psychosocial factors and health-risk behaviors associated with hookah use among college students
  October 24, 2011, Journal of Addiction Research and Therapy
• Water-pipe tobacco smoking among middle and high school students in Arizona
  Published on February 1, 2009, Pediatrics
• A multiyear survey of waterpipe and cigarette smoking on a US university campus
  September 24, 2012 (online), Journal of American College Health
• Prevalence and correlates of waterpipe tobacco smoking by college students in North Carolina
  May 1, 2011, Drug and Alcohol Dependence

Hookah policy advocacy - articles

• The waterpipe: time for action
  September 5, 2008 (online), Addiction
• US health policy related to hookah tobacco smoking
  September 2012, American Journal of Public Health
• Water pipe smoking among the young: the rebirth of an old tradition
  March 2012, Nursing Clinics of North America
• Affecting perceptions of harm and addiction among college waterpipe tobacco smokers
  April 6, 2011 (online), Nicotine and Tobacco Research
• Patterns of waterpipe use and dependence: implications for intervention development
  January 2005, Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior
• Waterpipe tobacco products: nicotine labelling versus nicotine delivery
  May 2012, Tobacco Control

Hookah policy advocacy - organizations

• World Health Organization (WHO)
  Advisory note: Waterpipe tobacco smoking: health effects, research needs and recommended actions by regulators
• American Lung Association
  Report: Tobacco Policy Reports and Resources, including report "Hookah smoking - A growing threat to public health"
• Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
  Statement: Survey Finds Increased Youth Use of Non-Cigarette Tobacco Products: Yet Another Warning that FDA Must Take Action
• Tobacco Control Legal Consortium
  Fact sheet: Regulatory Options for Hookahs and Water Pipes (2013)
• American Cancer Society
  Article: Hookahs are trendy, but are they safe?

Fact sheets on hookahs

• CDC: Fact sheet on hookahs
• FDA: Flavored Tobacco Fact Sheet
• 111th Congress: The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009

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