Overview
ISO 22486:2019 - Water pipe tobacco smoking machine - Definitions and standard conditions - specifies definitions, standardized smoking parameters and the requirements for routine analytical smoking machines used to test water pipe (hookah/shisha/nargile/arghile) tobacco that is electrically heated (not combusted). The standard is limited to devices where tobacco is heated and excludes other water-pipe types (for example, Chinese water pipes). ISO 22486 is intended to produce reproducible machine-generated emissions data to support product characterization, design and regulatory assessment while noting that machine results are not direct measures of human exposure or risk.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Applicability: Samples heated electrically only; charcoal effects are excluded.
- Machine pressure drop: Entire flow path resistance shall not exceed 1 500 Pa.
- Puff parameters:
- Puff duration: 2.6 s ± 0.1 s
- Puff volume: 530 ml ± 10 ml
- Puff frequency: 3 puffs/minute (one puff every 20 s ± 0.5 s, measured over 10 consecutive puffs)
- Puff profile: Rectangular shape; average flow rate 215 ml/s ± 25 ml/s; rise/fall portions combined ≤10% of total puff volume
- Restricted smoking: Connection tube closed to atmosphere between puffs (standard condition for analytical machines).
- Device specifications:
- Water pipe head dead volume: 65–75 ml
- Tobacco holder: ~25 ml capacity; recommended materials anodized aluminium or ceramics
- Bottle: Conforms to ISO 4796‑2, filling capacity 1 000 ml
- Components & concepts: Definitions and requirements for smoke traps, suction mechanism (port), compensation for pressure changes, mainstream vs. sidestream smoke, clearing puffs, test atmosphere (see ISO 3402).
Practical applications and intended users
- Who uses it:
- Analytical laboratories conducting standardized emissions testing
- Tobacco product manufacturers and R&D teams developing water-pipe products or heating devices
- Equipment manufacturers building compliant smoking machines
- Regulatory bodies and public‑health researchers requiring reproducible emissions data
- Use cases:
- Routine analytical machine smoking for emissions characterization
- Comparative testing for product development and quality control
- Input data for regulatory dossiers and hazard assessment (with caveats about extrapolating to human exposure)
- Standardized method development and inter-laboratory studies
Related standards
- ISO 3402 - conditioning and test atmosphere for tobacco products
- ISO 4796‑2 - laboratory glassware - bottles (conical neck) referenced for the required bottle
- Users should consult these normative references for conditioning and apparatus requirements.
Keywords: ISO 22486:2019, water pipe tobacco, smoking machine, hookah, shisha, puff profile, puff volume, puff duration, restricted smoking, analytical testing.
