Individuals looking to kick their cigarette habit often turn to electronic cigarettes to help them achieve this goal. When a person makes this switch, they often look for products similar to what they were using with conventional cigarettes.
This makes the transition to vaping easier. Thanks to the range of flavors available today, doing so has never been easier. Nevertheless, individuals must understand the nicotine strength of the product they are choosing, and this confuses many individuals.
Why Is This So Difficult?
When comparing cigarettes to e-liquids, individuals assume they can look at the amount of nicotine in their conventional cigarettes and the amount of nicotine in their chosen e-liquid. However, people must understand the differences between the smoke produced by tobacco cigarettes and the vapour created when using e-cigarettes.
Furthermore, tobacco cigarettes differ in terms of how much nicotine they contain, and a person’s body chemistry, which e-cigarette they use, and how the person uses the e-cigarette determine how much nicotine the person gets when using one of these devices. This helps to explain why men and women need to learn about e-liquids and how manufacturers measure nicotine in these products before making a purchase.
Nicotine in Tobacco Cigarettes
Every cigarette brand differs in terms of how much nicotine is present in the products, and the nicotine present in the cigarette varies from six milligrams to 28 milligrams. However, brands also differ from electronic cigarettes with regard to how they measure the amount of nicotine present in their products. They display the nicotine content of their products in relation to the weight of the cigarette, so it shows as 0.6. However, the average tobacco cigarette contains roughly 10 to 12 milligrams of nicotine.
Smokers don’t inhale all of this nicotine with each puff. Scientists cannot definitively say how much nicotine a person takes into their body, as studies looking at this topic came up with different results. They estimate a smoker inhales approximately 1.1 mg to 1.8 mg of nicotine with each cigarette they smoke. This remains significantly less than what is contained within the cigarette. In addition, the smoker takes in thousands of chemicals and over fifty carcinogens every time they smoke a cigarette.
Some of these chemicals and carcinogens help deliver the nicotine to the body. For instance, ammonia found in tobacco cigarettes helps to deliver this nicotine to the brain faster while satisfying the person’s craving.
Ventilated filters help bring more smoke into the lungs and more nicotine into the body. Finally, the way a person puffs on their cigarette plays a role in how much nicotine makes it into their system. Shallow puffers take in less nicotine than those who take heavy drags on their cigarette and hold the smoke in their lungs.
The smoker’s body chemistry influences the amount of nicotine absorbed by the body. Other variables play a role in how much nicotine the smoker gets. This includes the cigarette design and the chemicals present in the cigarette.
Nicotine in Electronic Cigarettes
Consumers find it easier to determine how much nicotine is present in their electronic cigarettes, as there aren’t the thousands of chemicals found in conventional cigarettes to make the calculations so challenging. E-liquids contain four ingredients: nicotine, vegetable glycerine, propylene glycol, and flavorings. Furthermore, e-liquids undergo testing to ensure they adhere to all TPD laws, which require manufacturers to display the amount of nicotine present in the e-liquid clearly on the package.
Nevertheless, consumers must determine how the manufacturer shares the nicotine content of the product. Manufacturers typically provide information about the nicotine dosage in milligrams. Products vary greatly in terms of the milligrams of nicotine present in them. For instance, a person might find a starter kit includes an e-liquid that contains 20 milligrams of nicotine, but they may choose a different e-liquid that only contains 1.1 milligrams of nicotine.
Other e-liquid producers display the nicotine content as a percentage of the liquid’s full volume and display this figure in milligrams. They show how many milligrams of nicotine are present in each milliliter of liquid. Look on the label to see if it shows 2mg/ml or 2 percent, as this provides information about the amount of nicotine found in the e-juice. However, users must understand they don’t get all of this nicotine every time they use the electronic cigarette.
Human’s do not absorb all the nicotine
As with conventional cigarettes, a person won’t absorb all the nicotine from the e-liquid when vaping. In fact, one study looked at this specific topic and found a person only absorbs half of the nicotine in the e-liquid. However, other studies obtained different results, and all studies point out the type and brand of e-cigarette used along with the way the person uses the e-cigarette play a role in how much nicotine the body takes in.
Comparing the Two
Although it is possible to some extent to compare tobacco and e-cigarettes in terms of their nicotine content, people must take into account the following factors. The chemical makeup of the cigarette impacts the nicotine absorption, and this remains true for both tobacco cigarettes and e-cigarettes. In the United Kingdom, manufacturers use the same ingredients and the same amount of nicotine, but the mixture differs by product. This affects the amount of vapour produced and the throat hit. The voltage of the battery plays a role in nicotine absorption, which means the same e-liquid used in two different devices could change the amount of nicotine absorbed.
While the vapour produced by e-cigarettes doesn’t impact the lungs as much as conventional cigarette smoke does, it transfers the nicotine at a slower rate. Additionally, e-cigarettes don’t come with the thousands of chemicals found in tobacco cigarettes, which means the body doesn’t absorb the nicotine as quickly.
Individuals making the switch from conventional cigarettes to e-cigarettes need to understand that the United Kingdom puts laws into place capping the amount of nicotine in e-cigarettes to 2 percent. Consider starting with an e-liquid with 2 percent nicotine. This helps smokers make the transition while taking into account the different absorption rates of the products. Once you have gotten a better understanding of how your body absorbs the nicotine in e-liquids, you can make adjustments.
Interesting related article: “What is an E-Cig?“