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Common Misunderstanding: 1 ml liquid can NOT be compared with a cigarette

FastScorpion

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Aug 10, 2014
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In a nutshell: Important is the nicotine concentration, nicotine resorption and especially the personal circumstances!

Examples using a 10 ml bottle of liquid 18mg nicotine per ml:

Nicotine concentration - 10 ml "18" liquid equals approximately 16 tobacco cigarettes.
nicotine resorbtion - 10 ml "18" equals approximately 30 tobacco cigarettes.
Personal circumstances - 10 ml "18" equals almost two packs of tobacco cigarettes.

Examples using a 10 ml bottle of liquid 9 mg of nicotine per ml:
Nicotine concentration - 10 ml "9" liquid equals about 8 tobacco cigarettes.
nicotine resorbtion - 10 ml "9" equals approximately 15 tobacco cigarettes.
Personal circumstances - 10 ml "9" equals almost two packs of tobacco cigarettes.

Examples using a 10 ml bottle of liquid nicotine 6mg per ml:
Nicotine concentration - 10 ml "6" liquid equals about 6 tobacco cigarettes.
nicotine resorbtion - 10 ml "6" equals approximately 10 tobacco cigarettes.
Personal circumstances - 10 ml "6" equals almost two packs of tobacco cigarettes.

You might wonder whether the "two packs of tobacco cigarettes" in all examples is a typo: No, it's not! Although nicotine concentration and nicotine resorbtion are perfectly suited to be used for calculations in scientific papers... These, however, avoid the fundamental issue: the behavior of consumers in reality!


Concentration

...level indication based on the volume of a mixture. The concentration therefore indicates how much of a substance is present in a volume (eg sugar cubes in coffee).

In the case of e-liquid or tobacco cigarette, the concentration is given as follows:


  • E-liquid: 18 mg / ml → 18 mg nicotine per 1ml of liquid.
  • Cigarette: 14 mg / g → 14 mg nicotine per 1 g of tobacco.
  • Cigarette smoke: 1 mg / 280 ml → 1 mg nicotine in the smoke of a tobacco cigarette.

In fact many do not know that nicotine concentration on cigeratte packages refers to the "the smoke of a cigarette" - measured with an always consistently pulling "smoking machine". But the tobacco from a tobacco cigarette contains 12-14 mg of nicotine.

Thus a package of 20 cigarettes contains approximately "20 x 14mg" = 280mg nicotine.

A bottle of 10ml liquid "18" contains "10 x 18mg" = 180mg nicotine. Thus this bottle contains less nicotine than a package of cigarettes.
Looking at the contration only a 10 ml bottle of "18mg" Liquid corresponds approximately 16 tobacco cigarettes.


Absorbtion

...is the intake of biological systems, such as the "a cream diminishing into the skin." As explained under concentration a tobacco cigarette contains up to 14 mg nicotine. 10 mg of these are burned during the smoking process. Thus the smoker ultimately absorbs between 2 and 4mg nicotine while smoking a tobacco cigarette: unlike a "smoking machine" people have the habit of varying inhalation depth and puff duration. This creates different rates of absorption compared to "smoke robots".

The nicotine from a tobacco cigarette is faster available in the bloodstream than nicotine from an e-cigarette or a nicotine patch because it is inhaled with various additional substances. With an e-cigarette absorption is in such a way that an e-cigarette consumer (vaper) using "18" Liquid only takes in a portion of the nicotine of a tobacco cigarette: the body absorbs just one third of the nicotine of a tobacco cigarette within 5 minutes using "18" liquid. Looking at nicotine resorbtion only a 10 ml bottle of "18" liquid corresponds to approximately 30 cigarettes.


Personal Circumstances

In most cases 1ml is approximately 1/3 to 1/4 of a vapers daily consumption.

Or: most vapers consume 3-4 ml e-liquid a day.
If we now assume a cigarette smoker consumes 20 cigarettes and a vaper vapes 4 ml of e-liquid a day a 10ml bottle compares (according to this VERY rough estimate) to just two packages of cigarettes. It does not matter whether you use a "9", "12", "16" or "18" liquid: if you "before" consumed a package of cigarettes and now vape 4 ml of e-liquid a 10 ml bottle equals approximately two packs of cigarettes.


Fairy Tales and Truth

There is still the myth that a 10 ml bottle e-liquid can be compared with a carton or (on the other side of the scale) 1 ml E-Liquid with a tobacco cigarette. With the former reason, some traders try to "cash in" and for the latter reason the EU Commission for instance wanted to limit the nicotine content of the e-liquids to 1-2 mg per ml in December 2012. Thus adjusting it to the tobacco cigarette respectively basing on nicotine content of nicotine gums.

However this is NOT correct!

As said already: in most cases 1 ml e-liquid equals approximately 1/3 to 1/4 of a vapers daily consumption.

2 mg nicotine per 0.1 ml e-liquid (or "20 mg per 1 ml" or "2.0%")... With such an e-liquid a vaper would consume arithmetically about the amount of nicotine which a smoker draws out of a tobacco cigarette. However this refers to the calculated concentration and not to the absorption. Thus not to the amount of nicotine ultimately ending up in the blood stream. According to Konstantinos Farsalinos only just one third of the amount of nicotine in a tobacco cigarette end up in the vapers blood using a 20 mg / ml liquid.

If the EU Commission prevailed and the EU Parliament would have adopted a reduction of e-liquids to 1-2 mg of nicotine per ml e-liquid...
We would have had serious implications:


  • Different nicotine strengths compensate vapers (probably mainly unconscious) by a choice of hardware-liquid combination and thus achieving a similar level of nicotine as before while smoking. Comparable with a tobacco smoker who inhales more or less deeply to achieve a certain nicotine level.
  • So would a nicotine limit of 1 to 2 mg cause the vapers to behave the same way as the smokers did when the concentration of nicotine in the smoke of a tobacco cigarette was limited to max. 1 mg Nikotin: they consume more! Assuming a smokers normal daily nicotine dose of about 60mg (20 cigarettes x 3mg nicotine) a smoker using a "2" liquid would have to evaporate and inhale well 30ml a day (which is almost impossible to realize!).
  • A tobacco cigarette smoker would probably never have successful quit smoking with such a low concentration and within a ahort time would have returned to smoking tobacco cigarettes.

Note: A vaper normally uses 3 to 4 ml of e-liquid a day. If the choosing nicotine concentration is too low - such as 4 mg / ml - only one thing will happen: he vapes automatically more!


Conclusion

As already mentioned: Different nicotine strengths compensate vaper with a (probably largely unconscious) choice of hardware-liquid combination and thus achieve a similar level of nicotine as before while smoking. Comparable with tobacco smoker who inhales once more once less deeply in order to achieve a certain level of nicotine.

Simply put: the brain gets the amount of nicotine it needs. This is done completely unconsciously and automatically.
Ergo: as a consumer you should simply compare the amount of tobacco cigarettes you have consumed per day to the ml of liquid you consume now per day. So if you "before" have smoked a pack of cigarettes a day and "today" consume nearly 5 ml e-liquid a day half a bottle of e-liquid is simply comparable to a pack.
Hint: starting to switch from smoking to vaping a smoker should use a rather higher dosed e-liquid such as a "18" (18 mg / ml sometimes it reads "1.8% nicotine" on the bottle). If this seems "too strong" you can mix the "18" e-liquid with a "0" (or glycerol) 50:50 to get a "9" (Mnemonic: double the volume to halve the concentration).
Warning:
if a heavy smoker (more than 20 cigarettes a day) starts with a low-dosed e-liquid such as a "9" or a "6" this usually leads to one result only: He probably gets back to smoking tobacco.

When after a few weeks or months a vaper notices that the previously consumed e-liquid is "too strong" you should either use the e-cigarette less or reduce the nicotine strength.

This is most likely because the receptors in the brain which were earlier stimulated by the tobacco smoke mixture (eg. MAOI, acetaldehyde, nicotine and other substances) "to demand more and more" are now "only saturated" by "pure" nicotine. Thus these receptors regenerate almost back to normal.

Simply put: the physical craving for nicotine can slowly "taper off".

Something I have witnessed with myself: three months ago I still smoked two packs of cigarettes a day ingesting 55 to 80 mg nicotine daily - today, the equivalent of 7 to 8 cigarettes.


Torsten

PS: If a vaper wants to reduce his liquid consumption he should for example change from a "6" to a "12" liquid. This way the body gets the required dose with fewer puffs.

Attention: Especially in the beginning of quittin some want to reduce the nicotine concentration as soon as possible. Whilst they first consumed only about 3 ml "18" e-liquid per day they arrived a few weeks later with a "6" liquid - but consume almost 9 ml a day of this "6" e-liquid!
Thus they consume three times the amount of e-liquid, however, take the same amount of nicotine as before -> whether "3 times 18mg = 54" or "9 times 6mg = 54" does not matter to the brain. Disadvantage: they inhale more propylene glycol, glycerin and flavorings.
As already mentioned several times: "The brain takes what it needs ..."


PPS: Excuse my bad English - I am German.
 
Good stuff FastScorpion although I'm a firm believer in vaping as much as you like at whatever nic strength you like if it's cutting out some or all of the ciggies.
Smokers have never, and never will, calculate their nicotine consumption and I see no reason why a vaper should either.

Having said that, it's a good lump of interesting info.

It's also interesting that "18mg" seems to have been adopted as an upper limit these days, whilst three or four years ago it was 30-36mg liquids that were helping to get people away from tobacco.
This, of course, maybe representative of the fact that 'modern' vaping equipment is more efficient?
 
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Good stuff @FastScorpion although I'm a firm believer in vaping as much as you like at whatever nic strength you like if it's cutting out some or all of the ciggies.
Smokers have never, and never will, calculate their nicotine consumption and I see no reason why a vaper should either.

My motivation was more to give starters / switchers an idea with what to start.

Having said that, it's a good lump of interesting info.

Thanks.

It's also interesting that "18mg" seems to have been adopted as an upper limit these days, whilst three or four years ago it was 30-36mg liquids that were helping to get people away from tobacco.
This, of course, maybe representative of the fact that 'modern' vaping equipment is more efficient?

Hmmm, I took 18mg as an example because that is what I used to start. There is still 24mg commonly available.
 
Interesting stuff.
Was just talking about this the other day. The muppet in my local vape shop told a friend that a 10ml bottle was equivalent to 200 cigarettes. She was worried that she was vaping the equivalent of 400 cigarettes a week. You'd think someone who owned a shop would know better.
 
It's also interesting that "18mg" seems to have been adopted as an upper limit these days, whilst three or four years ago it was 30-36mg liquids that were helping to get people away from tobacco. This, of course, maybe representative of the fact that 'modern' vaping equipment is more efficient?

I know someone who has been vaping for years and is vaping 30mg+ juice...

For me, I switched from 40+ roll-ups a day and went straight for 24mg and it ripped my throat to shreds, I dropped to 18mg and that was much better (3months later I'm down to 10mg :D ). I reckon you could be right about equipment being more efficient these days, it makes sense :)
 
Very interesting, thanks.

The question that comes to mind though is how do people cut down their nicotine intake? If it's an unconscious process with the increasing inhilation depth when lowering nicotine strength then I presume one must consciously limit their ml when lowering nic strength? E.g. If I vape 3mls at 18mg per day I must limit myself to 3mls of 12mg per day when I want to reduce nicotine - correct? Or will I just automatically inhale more deeply and hold in in to compensate?
 
I know someone who has been vaping for years and is vaping 30mg+ juice...

For me, I switched from 40+ roll-ups a day and went straight for 24mg and it ripped my throat to shreds, I dropped to 18mg and that was much better (3months later I'm down to 10mg :D ). I reckon you could be right about equipment being more efficient these days, it makes sense :)

Pretty much the same for me, went from probably 30 rollups (50g baccy every 4 days), went onto 24 for about 3 weeks, then 18, then 12 (4 months in total). About 2 months ago I dropped pretty much to 6 for everything and thats what I do now.

What grips my shit though is when my missus says "so when are you giving up then", the point sails straight past her.
 
Interesting stuff.
Was just talking about this the other day. The muppet in my local vape shop told a friend that a 10ml bottle was equivalent to 200 cigarettes. She was worried that she was vaping the equivalent of 400 cigarettes a week. You'd think someone who owned a shop would know better.

Well, if they would employ highly intelligent people only the stuff would cost twice as much. ;-) [no offense to the helpful people in stores]
 
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I used to smoke 40-60 analogs a day, first started using 18mg juice, now settled at 8mg juice between 5-10ml a day.

The comparison to analogs in any form has little or no relevance other than to denote how many of them I avoid by vaping rather than smoking.

Just use whatever strength/quantity you need to provide the satiation required to keep you either off analogs or reduce your intake.
 
I agree with @steffijade , as a vaper I care less how many cigarettes my ml of juice equates to.

When I can vape all day, I'll vape 10mg/ml ... when I have less time I pick up the 18mg/ml bottles.

The OP is about regulators misinterpreting science ... how novel is that? :)
The cigalike companies do the same thing though, exaggerating the cost benefit of switching from smoking. E-Lites cost me more than smoking - FACT! Their claims that one refill = 40 fags is a complete joke. Fortunately for me, cost wasn't a factor; I was happy for it to cost more to stop me smoking. Just wished I had a generation 2 device to choose from at the time.
 
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