People who vape are often asked how much nicotine is in their device. An earlier article on this blog covered beginner basics such as inhaling technique, starter kits and types of e-liquid. This one looks at nicotine itself: what it is, how the strength is shown on a bottle, and what the usual strengths are. It is a broad question, so the answer comes in parts.
Reading the strength on a bottle
E-liquid ingredients are listed on the bottle, and we have a separate article on what goes into vape juice. Every bottle of freebase e-liquid prints its nicotine strength. The figure is the amount of nicotine in each 1mL of liquid, and some labels give the same information as a percentage.
Freebase juice normally runs from 0mg up to 12mg:
- 0mg: no nicotine at all. This is for people who want the flavor and the clouds without any nicotine in the liquid.
- 3mg: often called the sweet spot, and the most widely bought strength. Because so many people choose it, expect it to be the first strength to sell out.
- 6mg: toward the high end of the scale. Most brands do not make freebase liquid stronger than this.
- 12mg: among the highest strengths that brands will carry in freebase juice. Fewer flavors are made at this level, so the choice is narrower.
Some brands also offer in-between strengths of 2, 4 and 8 mg.
Where nicotine salts fit
A cigarette does not come with a figure like that. Tobacco contains nicotine naturally, and with everything else added during manufacture it is hard to say how much is in one cigarette, never mind a whole pack. As a result, some people who moved from cigarettes to freebase e-liquid found it unsatisfying, because the two did not match up. Nicotine salts changed that to a degree. Nic-salt liquids carry higher nicotine levels and are made for low-powered devices, and many users find the kick and throat hit close to what they knew from cigarettes. Our article on nic-salt e-liquids explains them in more detail.
Choosing a strength
There is no formula for this. Finding a level you are comfortable with is mostly trial and error, which is not what a beginner wants to hear, but it is the truth. Each person absorbs nicotine differently, and how often and how deeply you inhale changes things as well. None of the strengths above is fixed for anyone. Some vapers settle at one level and stay there, some move down over time, and some add a little nicotine to a bottle that feels slightly too weak. If 6mg does not feel like enough, the options are to look for a 12mg liquid or to change to nic salts.
What nicotine is
Nicotine is a chemical that occurs naturally in plants of the nightshade family. That family includes eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes and, of course, tobacco. In 1828 a doctor, Wilhelm Heinrich Posselt, and a chemist, Karl Ludwig Reiman, isolated it from the tobacco plant. Its effects on the body have been studied at length. Researchers describe a faster heart rate and a heart muscle that uses more oxygen, together with effects on mood and alertness.
Addiction and risk
Nicotine is an addictive chemical. That warning appears on e-liquid labels, on cigarette boxes and on every e-juice website. People who use nicotine regularly and then stop should expect withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, irritability and nausea. The best advice we can offer is simple: if you do not use nicotine, do not start.
As for what vaping nicotine does over many years, the honest answer is that nobody knows yet. Too few long-term studies exist to show the lasting effects of e-liquid that contains nicotine. More will be learned as the research continues.
In short
The nicotine in a vape is whatever the bottle says, counted per 1mL of liquid. Freebase juice is sold from 0mg to 12mg, with 3mg the most common choice, and nic salts go higher for low-powered devices. Nicotine takes several forms, which is why the question is hard to answer in one line. Pick a strength by trying it, and keep in mind that nicotine is addictive whichever form you buy.