Hookah Pipes and Water Pipe Smoking: Health Risks, Injuries, and Legal Options

Hookah is a traditional Middle Eastern water pipe. It originated many centuries ago in ancient Persia, Iran, and India.

While cigarette smoking kills over 490,000 people annually, hookah pipes are also dangerous. Hookah pipes can be harmful to pipe smokers and people who inhale second-hand smoke.

Laws regulate the manufacture and sale of hookah and water pipes. Hookah users should be wary of these products. Once you realize you’re sick, it may be too late to reverse the damage to your health.

This article discusses the dangers of hookah. It also explains what to do if you develop an illness after using hookah or water pipes. A product liability attorney in your area can answer specific questions if you’re considering legal action against a hookah manufacturer.

What Is a Hookah or Water Pipe?

A hookah, or water pipe, is a tobacco delivery device from the Middle East and Asia. Hookah pipes are also known as:

• Narghile
• Argileh
• Shisha
• Hubble-bubble
• Goza

More than 100 million people worldwide smoke water pipes.

The tobacco in hookah pipes is usually flavored. Movie images from “Star Wars”  and “The Matrix Reloaded”  make waterpipe tobacco smoking look stylish and harmless. However, researchers say they may be just as dangerous as cigarettes.

Today, many people engage in hookah smoking. They may not fully understand the health risks these pipes pose. The government regulates hookah bars and sales of hookah tobacco to protect public health.

Types of Injuries and Cancers Caused by Hookah and Water Pipes

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hookah tobacco poses similar health risks to smoking cigarettes. But many argue that hookah doesn’t qualify as a tobacco product. However, they still pose adverse health effects.

The harmful effects of hookah include the following:

• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Cardiovascular disease
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Rapid heart rate
• Lung disease and compromised lung function

These adverse health outcomes exist for smokers and non-smokers. People who encounter hookah smoke exposure are at risk, even though they aren’t waterpipe users.

According to experts, smoking hookah can also lead to the following adverse health consequences:

• Lower fertility
• Birth issues
• Pregnancy problems
• Stroke
• Heart attack
• Loss of bone density
• Oral cancer
• Throat cancer
• Cancer of the esophagus

The CDC has conducted a systematic review of articles published in various journals, such as JAMA Pediatrics. The CDC confirms these health risks.

What Makes Water Pipes Dangerous?

Waterpipe use involves similar risk factors as traditional smoking. Hookah smoke contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are dangerous carcinogens. The effects of waterpipe smoking affect smokers and people in areas where hookah use is widespread.

The toxicants in hookah smoke enter your bloodstream when you inhale through your pipe. The mouthpiece you use with the hookah pipe increases the toxins entering your body. It’s no different from using an e-cigarette or vape pen.

The dangerous chemicals in hookah smoke cause damage to your lungs and cardiovascular system. Over time, this can lead to various types of heart disease and cancer.

Is Hookah Smoke Safer Than Cigarette Smoke?

Many adolescents, high school students, and college students smoke hookah pipes, perhaps assuming this is much safer than other types of smoking. Its prevalence among these groups can’t be underestimated, though. Hookah pipes can be just as harmful as other tobacco products.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• Smoking a water pipe delivers the addictive drug nicotine.
• Hookah smoke is as toxic as cigarette smoke.
• Due to the frequency of puffing, depth of inhalation, and length of the smoking sessions, hookah smokers may absorb higher concentrations of the toxins found in cigarette smoke.
• A typical one-hour-long hookah smoking session involves inhaling 100-200 times the volume of smoke inhaled from a single cigarette.
• Hookah smokers are at risk for the same kinds of cancers and other diseases as cigarette smokers.

The communal nature of smoking water pipes and hookahs can also transmit infectious communicable diseases and viruses like tuberculosis (TB) and hepatitis.

Compared to typical cigarette smokers, Dr. Christopher Loffredo, the Director of Cancer Genetics and Epidemiology at Georgetown University, asserts that”compared to the typical cigarette smoker, waterpipe smokers encounter larger total amounts of nicotine, carbon monoxide, and certain other toxins.”

Some research suggests more high school students are using hookah, which means people are developing these health issues at an early age.

Additionally, because water pipe smokers inhale greater amounts of tobacco smoke in their lungs compared to cigarettes, Loffredo contends that damage from smoking hookahs and water pipes”could be even worse than seen in cigarette smokers, but we haven’t done studies long enough to quantify the true cancer risk.”

What Chemicals Are in Hookah Smoke?

Most people smoke hookah with fruity flavors. The problem is that even fruit-flavored hookah smoke contains the same toxins as cigarettes.

Some of these include:

• Carbon monoxide
• Nicotine
• Tar
• Heavy metals like lead, copper, zinc, cadmium, and chromium
• Volatile aldehydes (e.g., formaldehyde, the chemical preservative used by morticians to embalm dead bodies )

Medical Treatment for Injuries Caused by Hookah

The financial costs of treating tobacco-related injuries from hookah pipes are high. Ongoing healthcare costs for treating these injuries are staggering. Many tobacco-related illnesses, like lung cancer, are fatal.

The costs of treatment, medication, and chronic care pose an enormous financial burden for water pipe smokers and their families. This, along with the injuries themselves, causes mental trauma as well.

Can I Sue a Hookah Manufacturer if I Develop an Illness?

You can pursue legal action against a hookah or water pipe manufacturer, but you’ll fight an uphill battle. Tobacco companies are well-resourced with teams of in-house attorneys. The entire industry has also taken protective measures to prevent liability, including:

• Adding warnings to all their products
• Being clear about the dangers of smoking tobacco
• Discontinuing misleading marketing
• Not targeting minors or first-time smokers with certain products or advertising

Unlike many other consumer products, tobacco items, including hookahs and water pipes, are considered inherently dangerous. This means they can cause harm even when used exactly as intended. This legal classification makes product liability lawsuits more difficult, as plaintiffs typically cannot argue that the product was defective in the traditional sense.

Instead, successful claims often hinge on failure to warn. For example, if manufacturers or sellers downplayed the health risks or marketed hookah as a safer alternative to cigarettes without adequate warnings.

These cases resemble past lawsuits against Big Tobacco, where companies were held accountable not because tobacco was defective, but because they misled the public about its dangers. 

Still, taking on a tobacco company for a smoking-related illness is legally complex and challenging to win. If you’re considering this, consult a product liability attorney first. An attorney can review your situation and advise whether pursuing a lawsuit is worth your time, effort, and money.

Should I Contact a Product Liability Lawyer?

If you or a loved one have a smoking-related injury from water pipes and hookah, you may have a legal claim. If so, your personal injury attorney can fight for compensation for your injuries.

Some of the factors your attorney will review include:

• Whether you are entitled to compensation for current and future medical expenses
• If you can recover lost wages and other out-of-pocket expenses
• Whether water pipe smoking and hookah injuries entitle you to damages for pain and suffering

Discuss your legal options with an attorney. Visit FindLaw’s attorney directory to find expert legal help near you.