Sharjah: A research released on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day by a team of researchers at the American University of Sharjah (AUS) has shown that alternative tobacco products are not less harmful than cigarettes.
The research aimed to dispel the notion that alternative tobacco products such as shisha and medwakh — a small smoking pipe popular in the region — are not as dangerous as cigarettes.
Research on a wide variety of commercially popular shisha charcoals and dokha tobacco (a tobacco usually mixed with herbs and spices and used in medwakh) conducted at the university has shown the presence of trace metals such as iron, lead, cadmium, chromium, cobalt and manganese at concentrations similar to, if not higher than, cigarettes.
The research also showed that emitted smoke from these alternative tobacco products contains a wide range of compounds including carcinogens and central nervous system (CNS) depressants that can severely impact health.
“Our research has identified many CNS depressants which could be associated with symptoms such as dizziness, incoordination, nausea, unconsciousness, fatigue, drowsiness, tension and sweating which have been reported among smokers of dokha and shisha,” said Dr Yehya Al Sayed, Associate Professor in Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Sciences at AUS. “We also managed to identify many irritants to the eye, skin, nose, gastrointestinal and respiratory tract in the smoke of shisha and dokha,” said Al Sayed.
Faculty, students and staff members, a research group from the Department of Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, has been carrying out the health risk assessment and chemical analysis of shisha and medwakh smoke for a number of years. The team worked with Dr Al Sayed, and Dr Sarah Dalibalta, Assistant Professor in Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Sciences. The findings were shared at the Society of Research on Nicotine and Tobacco since 2012.
To spread awareness and highlight the health hazards presented by alternatives tobacco products, the AUS research team has initiated plans to put together a task force of faculty and students at the university that will initiate a national outreach programme.
