Source · category
Water pipe smoking
Part of: Tobacco smoke (secondhand smoke)
Also: waterpipe smoking, hookah smoking, shisha, narghile, hubble-bubble
Smoking tobacco through a vessel of water, using charcoal as the heat source. The session lasts far longer than a cigarette and adds a second combustion source, so the indoor exposure differs from cigarette smoking in both size and composition.
Where it comes from indoors
The water in the pipe is what gives the practice its reputation for mildness and has nothing to do with the indoor exposure, which comes from two burning things at once: the tobacco preparation, heated rather than ignited, and the charcoal on top of it that supplies the heat.
Charcoal is why carbon monoxide dominates the measurements. Concentrations recorded in cafés and in homes during sessions are far above what cigarette smoking produces in the same room, and cases of poisoning in poorly ventilated premises are documented.
Duration compounds it. A session runs for an hour or more, often shared, so the source is continuous where a cigarette is a pulse — and the room, typically a small enclosed one chosen for comfort, rarely has the ventilation to match.
Bystanders in the same room carry the exposure without smoking.
What the studies report
| Linked to | Effect | Population | Study design | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formaldehyde (CH₂O) | mean 856 | — · waterpipe cafe | cross-sectional measurement study in waterpipe cafes in Tehran, Iran: formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and nicotine measured indoors and outdoors by the number of active waterpipe heads, the tobacco type and the floor level, with a health risk assessment | F-0913 Masjedi Air pollutants associated with smoking in indoor/outdoor of … (2019) | machine |
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | mean 1190 | — · waterpipe cafe | cross-sectional measurement study in waterpipe cafes in Tehran, Iran: formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and nicotine measured indoors and outdoors by the number of active waterpipe heads, the tobacco type and the floor level, with a health risk assessment | F-0914 Masjedi Air pollutants associated with smoking in indoor/outdoor of … (2019) | machine |
| Nicotine | mean 7.20 | — · waterpipe cafe | cross-sectional measurement study in waterpipe cafes in Tehran, Iran: formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and nicotine measured indoors and outdoors by the number of active waterpipe heads, the tobacco type and the floor level, with a health risk assessment | F-0915 Masjedi Air pollutants associated with smoking in indoor/outdoor of … (2019) | machine |
| Formaldehyde (CH₂O) | mean 176 | — · waterpipe cafe | cross-sectional measurement study in waterpipe cafes in Tehran, Iran: formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and nicotine measured indoors and outdoors by the number of active waterpipe heads, the tobacco type and the floor level, with a health risk assessment | F-0916 Masjedi Air pollutants associated with smoking in indoor/outdoor of … (2019) | machine |
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | mean 6120 | — · waterpipe cafe | cross-sectional measurement study in waterpipe cafes in Tehran, Iran: formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and nicotine measured indoors and outdoors by the number of active waterpipe heads, the tobacco type and the floor level, with a health risk assessment | F-0917 Masjedi Air pollutants associated with smoking in indoor/outdoor of … (2019) | machine |
| Nicotine | mean 3.79 | — · waterpipe cafe | cross-sectional measurement study in waterpipe cafes in Tehran, Iran: formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and nicotine measured indoors and outdoors by the number of active waterpipe heads, the tobacco type and the floor level, with a health risk assessment | F-0918 Masjedi Air pollutants associated with smoking in indoor/outdoor of … (2019) | machine |
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | median 22.5 | — · waterpipe bar | cross-sectional measurement study in Hong Kong: PM2.5, carbon monoxide, airborne nicotine, volatile organic compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons sampled for two hours in eight waterpipe bars and six bars without waterpipes, on a weekday and a weekend evening | F-0950 Indoor Air Pollutants of PM 2.5 , Carbon Monoxide, Nicotine,… (2026) | machine |
| Carbon monoxide (CO) | median 27.9 | — · waterpipe bar | cross-sectional measurement study in Hong Kong: PM2.5, carbon monoxide, airborne nicotine, volatile organic compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons sampled for two hours in eight waterpipe bars and six bars without waterpipes, on a weekday and a weekend evening | F-0951 Indoor Air Pollutants of PM 2.5 , Carbon Monoxide, Nicotine,… (2026) | machine |
| Particulate matter (PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀) | median 332.1 | — · waterpipe bar | cross-sectional measurement study in Hong Kong: PM2.5, carbon monoxide, airborne nicotine, volatile organic compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons sampled for two hours in eight waterpipe bars and six bars without waterpipes, on a weekday and a weekend evening | F-0954 Indoor Air Pollutants of PM 2.5 , Carbon Monoxide, Nicotine,… (2026) | machine |
| Particulate matter (PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀) | median 1001 | — · waterpipe bar | cross-sectional measurement study in Hong Kong: PM2.5, carbon monoxide, airborne nicotine, volatile organic compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons sampled for two hours in eight waterpipe bars and six bars without waterpipes, on a weekday and a weekend evening | F-0955 Indoor Air Pollutants of PM 2.5 , Carbon Monoxide, Nicotine,… (2026) | machine |
| Particulate matter (PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀) | mean 1267 | — · hookah parlour | before-and-after measurement study of public venues in Mumbai: fine particulate matter measured in restaurants, bars, hookah parlours and control locations before and after the comprehensive smoking ban came into force | F-1731 Study of Secondhand Smoke Levels Pre and Post Implementation… (2010) | machine |
Each row is one Finding — a sentence as printed in one study, recorded with its page in the Coridum Knowledge Base. Follow the Finding number for the exact wording and the citation. Checked says who verified the row: machine means every automatic check passed and the surrounding text was read; person means someone read the sentence in the document. Rows are re-checked by a person over time. The studies are curated in the Coridum Knowledge Base; the reading of them together is a Claim, shown separately.
Identifiers
- MeSH
- D000073867
Cite this page
Coridum Research. Water pipe smoking. Coridum Knowledge G-0127, 16 September 2026. https://coridum.com/k/G-0127/