So I Bought A Smokerlyzer

[mattarios2]

Very interesting read:

 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0735109701016163

 

Definitely read it

[Samwww]

A lot of conflicting ''studies'' out there. Lack of evidence combined with myths and generalizations.

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[mattarios2]

Are you saying when discussing CO? Or that specific article?

[Samwww]

Just studies on the negative effects of hookah in general. For the most part they tend to be bias and/or misleading.

I've never seen that particular study before, but it's definitely interesting.


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[kaoz187]

Is it that we like hookah so we dont accept these studies on hookah about the negative effects?? Smokinh is smoking its bad for you..great work john. Would wood coals be higher? Like those wooden lump coals

[mattarios2]

Not totally sure, from what I have heard and been told it seems like Japanese bamboo coals are going to be the lowest. I will have my cases of Fumaris in on Monday, then I will do more testing on them. If I could get the numbers to be in the low 30s high 20s with deep hits after 60 or so hits, I would be very happy with those results. But when the coconut coals were getting into the high 40's ... that's getting too high, especially considering that was after only 60 hits, that isn't really that much.

[indian_villager]

Have you tried lump coal like some hookah bars/codename use?

[mattarios2]

Not yet, I will eventually, how do those ash? If I remember correctly from trying them years ago they have similar color to coconut coals yeah?

[Hassouni]

Gray. Real wood coals, even the ones that physically look like tree branches, ash gray, which makes me wonder about Eric's ash color theory.

[dizzbizz]

Yeah I didn't quite understand that theory. If you light a fire with natural wood, the ash is grey not black.

[mattarios2]

Well I think the point is that all wood NATURALLY has things in them that aren't ideal to smoke. Eric has said the Japanese bamboo coals either use bamboo that is free of those things, or they do a process to remove it so you are left with just BLACK ash. So when you look at it like that it makes sense.

[mattarios2]

Another thing I have been curious about is if bigger bowls reduce CO, why? You have the same ratio of coal to tobacco as you do with a bigger bowl. SO why lower CO levels?

 

Which makes me wonder about another thing, when the CO in the coal is produced, does some of it go away or turn into something else with the reaction it has with the tobacco? If so it makes me wonder if a non phunnel would have less CO because with say a Turkish bowl all of the heat that is drawn goes directly to the tobacco where as a phunnel may pull in some of the heat directly through the phunnel and not into the the tobacco. A turkish bowl is a big bowl holds ~30 grams so I am curious if a traditional bowl would yield lower CO levels. These are all just thoughts of mine no proof or science behind it.

 

When noobs say why do I get a headache from the hookah even after being informed about the proper amount of charcoal to use usually it is because they under pack which would mean more CO reaches the user when not enough tobacco is filled in the bowl ... so if a traditional bowl has all of the coals heat directed straight to tobacco could that make a difference? We shall see ...

[mattarios2]

so far tonight my numbers are 60% lower with a 50g medium phunnel vs a 32g smedium tangiers phunnel ...seems like the size of the bowl is a BIG factor.

When I used a pico my numbers were double the readings I got with the smedium bowl.

I will give much more accurate and precise data when all of this is done, but roughly it looks like for my body at least the japanese coals reduce co by about 20% when the same bowl and tobacco are used when comparing coconut halves vs japanese. Coconut wholes vs japanese are probably an even LARGER difference.

Big bowl for me from now on and if I don't finish it, I put foil over it and smoke it next time.

[mattarios2]

those readings are with the Japanese coal and a medium phunnel not with coconut coals.

I don't even want to know what whole coconut coals would register since I was reaching the high 40's after 60 hits with half coals. The wholes would definitely be higher because A.) You use more charcoal B.) Less air is able to reach the coal (the center of the coal gets far less air flow than a half coals center)

[DrSmokes]

You must think about these numbers a little differently btw. You mention that you can reach chronic cig smoker CO levels. The thing with that is, those people are walking around with those levels ALL the time. Hookah CO numbers, you wouldn't be walking around with it all the time as it would gradually get less and less as the hours and days go by.

 

I think there is something to be said about the length of time in which our bodies are stuck at a certain level.

 

And by no means am I saying it is healthy, just a different perspective. 

[joytron]

Have you tested your levels 24 hours later?

[PJCrusader]

If you still need some GCs I can send you some.  I haven't touched mine really.  

[mattarios2]

Yes I agree justin. I have talked about this previously in the thread. When you reach 40 or above it takes about 24 hours to be completely out. After 12 hours you are still at 1-2 pack a day CIG levels. But when you stay around 25-30 ppm by the end of the night you reach within normal levels after roughly 12 hours. So you can see how 15 to 20 ppm less is huge not only right after smoking but the next day as well. Check back a few pages in the thread where this was discussed. A real medium phunnel drastically lowered numbers and 12 hours later I was down to 9ppm. 1-8 ppm has been seen regularly in non smokers generally 1-5 is considered normal but 5-8 in non smokers has been seen quite a bit.

[Hassouni]

hrmm, time to start using the huge turkish funnels again methinks

[mattarios2]

Giving it another go tonight in the medium phunnel. Packed a bit lighter since the cooked tobacco was pushing against the foil the other night. So it is 45g tonight instead of 50g and I am going to try starting with 5 Japanese coals instead of 6. I only take hits if the clouds are normal sized to try and at least keep the results semi consistent. So like usual I will have a friend get it going first, if 5 isn't sufficient I will add another then start testing.

if a 32g bowl to a 45-50g bowl lowers the numbers that much, I may just have to buy a few larges. One thing I will say, a bigger bowl produces a better flavor, much less work for a large cloud (it is easy to get big clouds from any bowl) but it just has a different draw that is hard to explain. And I don't remember if someone said this in the past, it may have been Eric but it is like a v8 vs a 4 cylinder turbo. Both could be the same speed but there is always something about the v8 that makes it effortless and just pleasant, where the 4 cylinder really has to work but can still attain the same result.

[Codyb88]

Hey mattarios, can you PM me your address so I can mail you some exotica coals to try?

[mattarios2]

done

[mattarios2]

If you still need some GCs I can send you some.  I haven't touched mine really.

yeah would be great, let me know when you want to send them and I will pm you my address.

thanks

[KnightHawk63]

I don't want to bash on anything or claim something that isn't but I mean, we kinda breath in CO regardless, especially depending on the area in which we live. Smog, pollution, fumes, exhaust, smoke, all these elements are in our everyday air that we breath, that is prolonged exposure to CO that we cannot help. According to a chart I read, 35ppm results in headache and dizziness after 6-8 hours of CONSTANT exposure. You are not smoking hookah for 6-8 hour straight, at least I'm not. I don't see how those levels have a detrimental effect on the body since our bodies are used to taking punishment and filtering out toxins on a regular basis. I can see how putting a label and a number on something creates a scary scenario but there are bigger things at work than just that, lots of variables that depend on the individual as well. Here's something to put in perspective: 12,800ppm results in unconsciousness after 2-3 breaths, death in 3 minutes of that exposure level. 100 ppm results in a slight headache after 2-3 hours of constant exposure... With water, open air, and food, I think we are fine. I mean it is the vice that we choose to do, were you really expecting anything different? I think the levels are a lot less than people really expect them to be. I know I'm not concerned.

Edited May 3, 2014 by KnightHawk63

[Stuie]

It's good to have some perspective, I think John will put it in context for us.

 

Personally I smoke around 4 hours a night, sometimes more time permitting (aka insomnia)