Correct Nicotine Dosage When Vaping

Nicotine is quickly demonized in the public debate and held responsible for all the health risks of cigarettes and e-cigarettes. It is then said that nicotine is a poison and is highly toxic in any form, not just smoke. We don’t want to beat around the bush right at the beginning. Nicotine is found in vaping, and nicotine is highly toxic. However, what is so dangerous about the preceding statement is that it could deter vapers, especially current smokers, from switching to healthier e-cigarettes. So the question is, is there anything to worry about for vapers? What is the risk of a nicotine overdose? What are the symptoms of nicotine poisoning and what to look out for? And what can you do if you have overdone it with nicotine? We have compiled answers to these questions and a lot of further information below.

The dose makes the poison

When it comes to naming the lethal dose of nicotine, the values ​​in research currently differ. The exact value is somewhere around 30-60mg of nicotine. For vapers, this would mean consuming around 8ml of 6mg/ml e-liquid or 4ml of 12mg/ml e-liquid. However, it should also be considered that the human body processes nicotine very quickly. After just two hours, the nicotine level in the blood is halved, which is why it would be necessary for nicotine poisoning to ingest the toxic dose all at once. With vaping, this is practically impossible. Also adding to the issue is that individual resilience to nicotine has a major impact on people. In several instances, individuals have ingested significantly higher nicotine levels with minimal, if any, symptoms. The lowest level of nicotine ever found in the blood of a victim of nicotine poisoning was also many times higher than the previous figure, at around one gram.

Because research values vary so widely, it isn’t easy to place confidence in individual statements. Even experts struggle to set a maximum level for nicotine.

Signs of overdose

While the chances of nicotine overdose are extremely low for vapers, most will sooner or later notice signs that they’ve overdone their nicotine. The most telling indicator is certainly nausea. Especially if you’re feeling progressively worse towards the end of a vape session, it could be a signal from your body to slow down a bit for a while. Most of the time, nausea will increase gradually during vaping, so it’s a good idea to stop as soon as you start feeling nauseated. Ideally, you can avoid the symptoms becoming too uncomfortable and save yourself another indication of too much nicotine: vomiting. Accordingly, avoiding an overdose is not difficult. Most vapers know the signs and will stop vaping as soon as they realize they are not feeling well. Another symptom of a mild overdose is a headache. Watching for nausea, however, is a good way to keep track of your nicotine intake.

The symptoms of nicotine poisoning

If you don’t stop vaping despite experiencing symptoms, or if you accidentally spill e-liquid and it gets absorbed through the skin, the symptoms can quickly become much more severe.

Vapers may experience the following symptoms in such cases:

• stomach cramps
• Diarrhea
• confusion
• tachycardia
• Increased salivation
• headache

As discussed above, it is extremely unlikely for vapers to ingest enough nicotine to experience these symptoms. However, it makes sense to have at least heard them before, so you know what to look out for. The more serious the symptom of nicotine poisoning, the less likely it is to occur. Such particularly bad symptoms also include seizures or even coma, slow heartbeat, or, in the worst cases, heart failure. While nicotine may not be as toxic as some people like to make it out to be, it is still a poison and should be used with caution.

Can you get nicotine poisoning from vaping?

The most important question for vapers is whether to take certain precautions in practice. How likely is it that you are vaping normally and suddenly suffer from a nicotine overdose? What is the probability of getting a worse symptom?

If you are a vaper concerned about your health due to the risks of nicotine consumption, it makes sense to revisit how much e-juice would need to be ingested to reach a toxic dose. At least 500mg of nicotine would be needed to pose a life-threatening risk. Even with a high-dose liquid of 12mg/ml, you need about 40ml. Nicotine poisoning when vaping is therefore not realistic. In tests on vapers who vaped as much as possible in an hour, a level of nicotine that was not even remotely threatening was still found in the blood. If you use your e-cigarette as intended, an overdose of nicotine is hardly possible.

Realistic risks in vaping

Now that fatal nicotine poisoning from vaping has proven virtually impossible, what happens if you vape too much? Experiencing symptoms from nicotine ingestion is a real problem, especially when using e-liquids with high nicotine levels. Most vapers who have been using e-cigarettes for years have noticed nausea or headaches in themselves or known vapers at one time or another. But even vomiting is something very few vapers experience, even if they vape a lot. However, any of these symptoms indicate that you have vaped too much and should now hold back. This can either mean using a liquid with less nicotine or vaping less. Taking a break from vaping is usually enough to make you feel better, and due to how quickly the body processes nicotine, improvements will come very quickly.

Risks of nicotine ingestion

While it’s unlikely that vapers will mistake e-juice for a drink, open the bottle and take a good sip, it still makes sense to be aware of the risks of oral nicotine ingestion. Even if a child or pet could gain access to e-liquid, they could ingest a dangerous amount of nicotine through their mouth. There have also been reports of people swallowing e-liquid for self-harm. The question here is how toxic nicotine is when drunk. Cases in which people have accidentally or intentionally drunk e-liquid show the effect of this recording very clearly. In one case, a woman drank 50ml of 30mg/ml of e-liquid, resulting in a dose of 1,500mg of nicotine. But even if that goes far beyond the supposedly lethal dosage, she only experienced nausea, stomach pain, and vomiting. In particular, this shows that drinking e-juice is not as toxic as it might seem. Even if you consume a very large amount of liquid in this way, it has to pass through the digestive system to get into the blood. Before that happens, however, it is vomited up again. However, the situation is significantly different for children and pets. Not only is there a much greater likelihood that they will accidentally swallow liquids, but their smaller body is also much less able to counteract the toxin. For vapers, this means, first and foremost, they have to store e-juice from the reach of children or animals. Otherwise, the consequences could be tragic.

The risk of skin contact with nicotine

Workers often suffer from green tobacco disease in the regions where nicotine is harvested. This is characterized by nausea, dizziness, vomiting, and headaches and is a well-known problem, especially during the rainy season or at times of the day when the air humidity is very high. Anyone who has read the text should have already recognized that these symptoms are signs of incipient nicotine poisoning. Tobacco plantation workers may develop these symptoms because nicotine can be absorbed into the human body through the skin. That’s why nicotine patches work so well. For vapers, this means one thing above all: if you spill e-liquid and accidentally get it on your skin, you should be aware that you are now at risk of a nicotine overdose. However, the actual risk is also lower here. Our skin can only absorb a limited amount of nicotine, and the risk is very small because liquids are usually dosed in small amounts. E-Liquid moves slowly across the skin, and unless you take a bath in e-Liquid or cover a large surface of your body with e-Liquid without wiping it off immediately, nicotine poisoning will not occur. Research has shown that nicotine is absorbed through the skin more slowly than when inhaled. Even if you have previously vaped and your blood levels of nicotine are elevated, the risk of an overdose through skin contact should still be low. However, it should also be noted that the risk for children is significantly increased. If e-liquid accidentally drips onto a child’s skin, one should pay more attention and concern here than if it is an adult. However, if the area is carefully wiped and cleaned immediately and a doctor is consulted if necessary, there should be no long-term problems. Vapers should take away from this information that nicotine should be washed off the skin immediately, and caution should be exercised around children.

What about nicotine shots?

Things get a little more serious as soon as we stop talking about e-liquids and start looking at do-it-yourself nicotine shots. Due to a change in the law, in Germany, it is only possible to purchase nicotine-containing bases with a maximum dosage of 20mg/ml in stores. However, the nicotine content is significantly higher here than in mixed liquids. A higher nicotine content inevitably results in a higher risk posed by nicotine. If a child accidentally gets nicotine shots, only a fraction of the amount otherwise required is enough to achieve a lethal dose. The risk of skin contact is also greater. While you wouldn’t vape the pure nicotine shots, it can still happen that you misjudge the mix, and the liquid becomes too strong. Special caution applies to all those who mix their liquids. When working with the shots, nitrile gloves can be worn to protect hands. Other equipment protects equipment from exposure to nicotine. Greater care must be taken when storing the bases so that it does not get into the hands of children or animals. In principle, however, all the information regarding the handling of e-liquids also applies to the bases, only that their application is even more important here.

What to do if you detect symptoms?

It is important to take steps to minimize the risk of nicotine poisoning. But what if it’s too late for that? Maybe you got e-liquid on your skin without realizing it. Maybe the kid got their hands on the e-liquid and choked on something. Maybe the mix was too strong, and the nicotine levels weren’t balanced.

When you vape too much

Nausea is the most common and the least dangerous symptom of vaping too much. Relief usually occurs as soon as you stop vaping. The key here is to stop vaping as soon as you experience the first symptoms and not wait until you can’t take it anymore. If you try to continue anyway, you feel worse quickly. If vomiting or another more severe symptom occurs, it makes sense to consult a doctor or, in the worst case, to call an ambulance. Of course, vaping should be stopped immediately to avoid aggravating the symptoms.

If you accidentally swallowed e-liquid

If you or your child swallowed e-liquid, the severity of the situation depends on the amount and strength of the liquid. For example, if you swallow a few milliliters of a low-strength e-liquid, you may feel a little uncomfortable for a while, but the symptoms should set in very quickly. However, if a child has swallowed a larger amount of stronger liquid, the situation must be taken seriously. One should immediately seek medical help here and put their advice into practice. The following symptoms as a result of poisoning should be considered a reason to call a doctor:

• nausea and vomiting
• dizziness
• cardiac arrhythmia
• seizures
• difficulty breathing
• Uncontrollable restlessness or excitement
• loss of consciousness

While these symptoms are not unique to nicotine poisoning, they can also occur when e-liquid is ingested. Especially when you are unsure how serious the situation is, it is better to consult a doctor than to jeopardize your health or that of someone else. Activated charcoal tablets can also be used as a treatment for acute poisoning. Symptoms should usually subside within a few hours once the body has processed the amount of nicotine.

Getting e-liquid on your skin

The same recommendations apply to spilled e-liquid. If the amount is small, wash the area carefully and see if there are any other symptoms. If the amount is larger, not only should the area be cleaned immediately, but you should also change your clothes and gently wipe the surfaces that have come into contact with the liquid. Opening the windows will help air out the room and reduce the amount of nicotine in the air. Here, too, the nicotine strength plays a major role, and high-dose liquid usually causes greater problems. Especially when it comes to nicotine shots, you should exercise special caution and not hesitate to seek medical help if symptoms occur.

Conclusion

The likelihood of getting nicotine poisoning from vaping is very low. Most vapers store their e-liquid safely and do not allow children or pets access to it. And most vapers who mix their e-liquid are aware of the dangers of nicotine bases and take steps to ensure their safety.

However, this is not always the case. Nicotine may be less toxic than other known toxins, but it is still a poison that can potentially cause life-threatening situations. Potentially dangerous situations should always be taken seriously. In most cases, improvement will occur quickly, and symptoms should subside in about an hour or two. However, long-term consequences can set in, which should be avoided by handling the substance correctly.

So, in summary, concerning nicotine poisoning and vaping, panic would certainly be the wrong response. But it is important to be constantly aware of the danger and to take the risk seriously. If you spill a few milliliters of liquid, that’s usually not a problem. However, cleaning the area immediately and avoiding unnecessary skin contact with the liquid can’t hurt.

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