Is hookah hazardous? Hookah smoke is extremely dense and contains the same high level of carcinogenic substances as cigarette smoke. Even if you do not smoke and just pass by a hookah shop, you can get an impressive dose of carcinogenic substances in 3 minutes and have the same risks as smokers. Moreover, during one hour of hookah smoking, a person inhales an amount of smoke 200 times more than from a single cigarette! Besides, when hookah smoking, cold fumes enter the body, which doesn't have time to turn on the protective mechanisms in the respiratory tract - the production of antibodies and immune factors. Thus, harmful substances enter the body instantly. Cigarette smoke is hot, and the defense mechanism kicks in faster.