The Tobacco and Control Office on Saturday said it launched a crackdown on the smoking of waterpipes, also known as shishas or hookahs, in Tsim Sha Tui on Friday night, issuing 11 fixed penalty notices at one bar.

Officers including those in plain clothes raided the bar, handing out the notices which carry a penalty of HK$1,500.

The office also said the bar's operators may be prosecuted under the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance, and for aiding and abetting smokers.

A Tobacco and Control Office spokesman said due to deeper inhalation a waterpipe smoker usually inhales more toxins and that a typical one-hour session exposes the user to 100-to-200 times the volume of smoke inhaled from a single cigarette.

The spokesman also flagged the carbon monoxide poisoning risk of charcoal burning and the unhygienic smoking apparatus