How do I answer this question?

[jmvallee]

A friend of mine posed these questions and I wasn't sure of the answer:

When you inhale, do you absorb all or just part of the nicotine?

If you do not absorb it all, what happens to the rest? (Does the vapor you exhale contain the unabsorbed nicotine?)

(FYI, I have a 510)

Anyone know the answer???

 

[Closet Toker]

I remember reading, that a small amount is released after exhale. However, the amount is so small, it dissipates in the air immediately. It is virtually harmless.

 

[h8isgr8]

Inhaled nicotine in cigarette smoke is over 98% absorbed, and so the exhaled mist of the e-cigarette is composed of propylene glycol, and probably contains almost no nicotine; and no CO.

Source: section 5 (page 21) of the document below....

http://www.healthnz.co.nz/RuyanCartridgeReport30-Oct-08.pdfhttp://www.innovapor.com/docs/2.pdf

I would guess the actual amount depends on how long you hold the vapor in your lungs.

 

[hxj]

Inhaled nicotine in cigarette smoke is over 98% absorbed, and so the exhaled mist of the e-cigarette is composed of propylene glycol, and probably contains almost no nicotine; and no CO.

Wait... but haven't blood tests shown that only about 10% of vaped nicotine actually winds up in the bloodstream? How does that reconcile with exhaled vapor "probably" containing "almost no nicotine"? Surely it has to go somewhere...

 

[Closet Toker]

Wait... but haven't blood tests shown that only about 10% of vaped nicotine actually winds up in the bloodstream? How does that reconcile with exhaled vapor "probably" containing "almost no nicotine"? Surely it has to go somewhere...

That is with smoking I believe. vaping is a pure way to get Nicotine.... no burning.

 

[hxj]

That is with smoking I believe. vaping is a pure way to get Nicotine.... no burning.

This is apparently not even close to the case, at least according to preliminary results from the only scientific study I've seen on nicotine blood levels from vaping. Please read this thread:

Nicotine absorbtion from vaping research

"... Bullen, Glover, Laugesen, Lin, McRobbie, and Thornley report that after 9 participants used the Ruyan device (16 mg cartridge) for 5 minutes, peak plasma nicotine concentration was 1.3 ng/ml (95% confidence interval = 0.0 to 2.6). In contrast, for those same participants, a cigarette produced a peak plasma nicotine concentration of 13.4 ng/ml (95% CI = 6.5-20)."

The 1.3 vs. 13.4 must be where my brain pulled the 10% value, but what it's really saying seems to be that 5 minutes of vaping 16 mg e-liquid delivers a maximum spike of one-tenth as much nicotine to the bloodstream as smoking a single cigarette does. Of course, it's early days yet, and one study doesn't necessarily mean much. But it does seem to jibe with many vapers' personal experience... and be completely counter to others' personal experience.

If you poke around, there's also a thread in which a few vapers tested themselves with home nicotine-level tests, and the results were pretty varied, but I believe several people came up with levels way below expected.

 

[hxj]

Just noticed that the study I referred to is the exact same one quoted above, stating that there's probably no nicotine in exhaled vapor!

In a published abstract, they state that "the nicotine dose and particle size are too small to ensure deposition in the alveoli or bronchioles and rapid nicotine absorption as in cigarette smoking." So if they claim that most of the nicotine is not being absorbed into the lungs, and they claim that the nicotine isn't in the exhaled vapor, I'm not sure where they think all that unabsorbed, unexhaled nicotine goes.

Note also their conclusion, which sheds some light, perhaps, on speed of absorption: "An e-cigarette user will need to take more puffs more often, and deeper puffs confer no advantage for V8 users. Six puffs every 5 minutes would deliver the same dose of nicotine delivered by shallow inhaling (10 puffs of 35 mL per puff) from one tobacco cigarette every hour, but would not achieve the high immediate nicotine boost which many smokers crave." So 72 vaping puffs in an hour to equal 10 puffs of a cigarette.

 

[titanflyer]

Gee, that word PROBABLY, seems kind of sketchy for a "scientific" study.

 

[Closet Toker]

That explains my constant need to vape. My wife gets so ticked (she is a non-smoker), 'cause I seem to vape "all the time" in the house.
I never smoke cigarettes in the house.
.

 

[fishhd]

A friend of mine posed these questions and I wasn't sure of the answer:

When you inhale, do you absorb all or just part of the nicotine?

If you do not absorb it all, what happens to the rest? (Does the vapor you exhale contain the unabsorbed nicotine?)

(FYI, I have a 510)

Anyone know the answer???

Here's my non scientific answer. for what it's worth.

Who Cares, 1. I'm not smoking cancer sticks anymore and 2. does the exhaled vapor bother you? My experience with the answer to the second question is a 100% no, it doesn't bother them.

 

[hxj]

Gee, that word PROBABLY, seems kind of sketchy for a "scientific" study.

Yup. As far as I know, they never actually analyzed the exhaled vapor, so that was just a guess. Pretty unprofessional of them to mention, though, if they didn't do any analysis.

The thing is, it should be really, really easy to do a nicotine content analysis on exhaled vapor. It'd be the same as the FDA test, only capturing vapor exhaled by a person instead of vapor produced by suctioning air through an auto-switch e-cig.

 

[hxj]

More results from the same study. Probably the most interesting thing to me, here (off-topic a bit, I guess) is that for the ten minutes after vaping, 16 mg liquid and 0 mg liquid were equally effective at satisfying nicotine cravings. (The effect lasts longer for the 16 mg, of course.)

Most people agree, I think, that nicotine is only one aspect of smoking addiction, and this certainly seems to back that up. For some people it's a major part, and they need to vape high-strength liquid constantly to feel even close to satisfied. For others, it's a relatively minor component compared to ritual, oral fixation, weight of smoke/vapor in the lungs, etc. and they have little trouble giving up analogs right away in favor of PVs, even with low-strength liquid, and have little difficulty transitioning to lower-strength or even zero-strength over time.

 

[FL-Eagle]

I don't know about the the nicotine question but I can say this. My wife (who is a non-smoker) never let me smoke in the house, which was always fine with me I had no problem with that.
Since I started vaping last week she has let me vape in the house as she said she smells no odor like with cigs or cigars.
I've noticed that when I exhale the vapor seems to dissipate almost instantly unlike cig or cigar smoke which hangs in the air ofr some time.

 

[Jim Davis]

My opinion is;
No one questions inhaling second hand alcohol from a drinker, or caffeine from a coffee drinker. Why is that? Is nicotine any different?

 

[titanflyer]

My opinion is;
No one questions inhaling second hand alcohol from a drinker, or caffeine from a coffee drinker. Why is that? Is nicotine any different?

Don't mean to state the extreme obvious here, but there is nothing similar with the comparison products above. Unless you go around spraying vodka on people, or spitting coffee into the air... then you will probably get some complaints about invading peoples space... lol.

We have to be cognizant of the fact that what comes out of our mouth looks and acts like the same smoke that finally has been banned from all the places the non-smokers (and even a lot of smokers) wanted it banned from.... and here we come doing the exact "looking" same thing, and the FDA lies and tells them its the same if not worse...if you were a non-smoker, you would be on board with the FDA in a heartbeat.

Education and the truth is the only thing that might change some peoples opinions.. but the expectation I hold is that its too late. We may get our day in court, but the damage is done. We have been thrown into the leper colony with the smokers... end of story. Find places that haven't made up their minds, places with open minded individuals running them, and educate them. Show them the studies, be polite, be smart.. and possibly you will have a place to go out and vape while eating etc. Have a gathering of like minded vaper'ers.. show the owners of establishments that there is profit in acceptance...

I have done this and I think the owner of a MAJOR steak house restaurant sees potential to keep his smokers happy when the final ban comes in Charlotte on Jan 01... he may even sell them as they used to be a cigar bar as well. I am thinking of approaching him to do a couple of seminars on it for his clientele in the bar on regulars night... Any vendors out there want to team up with me to sell e-cigars and e-cigs to a group of well to do smokers who drink a lot... lol.

Just my thoughts on the matter...

 

[hxj]

I don't know about the the nicotine question but I can say this. My wife (who is a non-smoker) never let me smoke in the house, which was always fine with me I had no problem with that.
Since I started vaping last week she has let me vape in the house as she said she smells no odor like with cigs or cigars.
I've noticed that when I exhale the vapor seems to dissipate almost instantly unlike cig or cigar smoke which hangs in the air ofr some time.

Yup, makes sense because the visible part of smoke is solid particulate matter suspended in the air, whereas vapor is liquid particles that evaporate. Well, mostly. I've seen some comments from vapers of VG-based liquids saying that it leaves a film on surfaces if they vape very heavily, which I find disturbing.

I think it would be very interesting for a heavy vaper and non-smoker/vaper to spend a whole day together in a closed room and then compare nicotine-level tests on both of them to address the "second-hand vapor" issue. I mean, a few moderate vapers have tested out at levels considered "less-than-smoker," so I think I'd be surprised if second-hand vapor led to even a blip on the test for a non-smoker/vaper.

 

[brindner]

This is an interesting read, thanks OP!

 

[Jim Davis]

Don't mean to state the extreme obvious here, but there is nothing similar with the comparison products above. Unless you go around spraying vodka on people

Caffeine may be different, but alcohol is expelled through the lungs. A simple Breathalyzer test will confirm that. So I would be interested to know that the amounts of nicotine in exhaled vapor is compared to amounts of alcohol expelled by a moderate drinker.

 

[bizzyb0t]

Caffeine may be different, but alcohol is expelled through the lungs. A simple Breathalyzer test will confirm that. So I would be interested to know that the amounts of nicotine in exhaled vapor is compared to amounts of alcohol expelled by a moderate drinker.

Heh, very interesting point, indeed!

 

[Jim Davis]

Heh, very interesting point, indeed!

Yeah - It sounds stupid at first, but think about it. I'll bet we're getting "second hand alcohol". But no one thinks about that. I'm just curious.