March 13, 2008 Health concerns in Worcester over hookah lounge Play video

(NECN) - A health concern in Worcester, Mass. centers around a hookah lounge. People go to the lounge to smoke flavored tobacco with a pipe called a hookah.

Some say the city needs to crack down on these establishments in order to stop the possible spread of diseases.

Jennifer Eagan has more.

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Hookah lounges are gaining popularity as a chic way to socialize.

Vicky Mariano opened Worcester's first lounge last fall and says on weekend nights, the place is packed.

Catering to the college-aged crowd, customers choose from more than 20 flavors of tobacco. Smokers breath in through the hookah's mouth piece, pulling smoke from the tobacco.

Mariano: "Smoke will get filtered down through the water...comes back up and you blow it out."

Typically, groups of three or more come in and share a hookah, but as smokers pass the pipe from one person to another they could be breathing in a lot more than just smoke.

Worcester's Health Department is working on regulations for this currently unregulated business. It says the transmission of germs inside the hookah could be a potential health threat.

Each customer is given a disposable mouth piece but not all customers use it. Mariano says each hookah is thoroughly cleaned after each group uses it.

With more bars getting permits from the city, health officials will air on the side of public safety.