Nicotine solution - serious concerns.

[Oliver]

I'm sitting here looking at my bottle of nicotine solution. It's an innocuous looking thing - a small blue bottle with a screw-top/dropper pipette and a paper label with some German words written on it.

But we mustn't forget that nicotine is a highly toxic substance. It takes only .5-1mg per kg of nicotine to kill a human - so 40-60mg would be a toxic dose for most.

Compare that with potassium cyanide, the notorious choice of murderers and suicides, which takes 10 times as much to kill, and you see why I'm a little concerned at having this stuff in my house.

I don't know how much nicotine is actually in the bottle (15mg solution from Freesmoke), but if the stated nicotine level corresponds to the amount found in the quantity required to fill a cartridge (say 7 or 8 drops), then there is an awful lot in the bottle.

I'd be very concerned about having this stuff in my house if I had any children. If you do have children and wish to buy the solution, may I recommend that you empty the solution into a child-proof bottle?

SJ

 

[TropicalBob]

Might I add to also be aware that a pet dog can be killed by a very small amount of nicotine. This stuff is made pretty tasty (we've all gotten raw liquid in our mouths, right?), so it might appeal to a dog. Dogs frequently die after lapping up radiator anti-freeze overflow on driveways. Expect a story before long about a dog getting into e-liquid and going belly up.

I'm eagerly awaiting the New Zealand doctor's studies on how safe this stuff is. It being unregulated is really, really frightening, when you honestly think about it.

 

[marian00]

Very excellent caveats, SJ and Bob. Thank you.

Also, I've read in other posts that the e-liquid will last longer if kept in the fridge. Another important point to make about the e-nicotine: After handling the e-liquid, wash your hands before you pet your animal. My cats think it's catnip and want to lick my fingers!!!

Marian

 

[markab]

Hi SJ,
Well said. Nicotine is found not just in Tobacco leafs but also in other plants Like tomato and eggplant. It's a natural insectacide used by some plants to disable/kill insects before they eat them. As you noted, it's quite toxic, and needs to be treated with respect.

Mark

 

[HemiPower]

Some of you have mentioned coughing due to the vapours and everyone knows nicotine can be lethal in small amounts.

I have an NJOY which i am yet to use, the vapour is caused by


propylene glycol

A chemical used industrially as an antifreeze, solvent stabilizer, as a preservative in liquid livestock feeds and pharmaceutically as a vehicle or solvent for medicinal preparations. It is used extensively in food animal medicine as an oral medicament to boost the blood glucose level, e.g. in bovine acetonemia. Doses that are innocuous to cows can cause ataxia, depression and death in horses. Called also propanediol.

Applications

Propylene glycol is used:

* As a moisturizer in medicines, cosmetics, food, toothpaste, mouth wash, and tobacco products
* As a medical and sexual lubricant (A.K.A. "personal lubricant")
* As an emulsification agent in angostura and orange bitters
* As a solvent for food colors and flavorings
* As a humectant food additive, labeled as E number E1520
* As a carrier in fragrance oils
* As a less-toxic antifreeze
* As a solvent used in mixing photographic chemicals, such as film developers
* In smoke machines to make artificial smoke for use in firefighters' training and theatrical productions
* In electronic cigarettes to make the produced vapor better resemble cigarette smoke
* In hand sanitizers, antibacterial lotions, and saline solutions
* In cryonics
* As a working fluid in hydraulic presses
* To regulate humidity in a cigar humidor
* As the killing and preserving agent in pitfall traps, usually used to capture ground beetles
* To treat livestock ketosis
* As the main ingredient in deodorant sticks.

Propylene glycol has similar properties as ethylene glycol (MEG). The industrial norm is to replace ethylene glycol by propylene glycol.


I am no chemist but i can only presume that there are many diferent grades...???

 

[Oliver]

I'm not sure of your point. Chocolate kills dogs but we can't infer from that that it is dangerous to people.

Propylene glycol appears to be safe but some individuals cannot tolerate it due to irritation. It is metabolized in the lungs into lactic acid - also a byproduct of exercise.

There may well be different grades. I'd assume that the stuff we get is food-grade.

 

[TropicalBob]

It's not so much "grades" as it is usage. Propylene glycol is versatile and "generally regarded as safe" (GRAS) by the FDA in America. It can be used for consumption, for injection, and for transdermal purposes. The air you breathe might hold more dangers. Just look at what it contains! Do not focus concern on propylene glycol when the option is 200 known carcinogens among the 4,000 chemicals released by burning tobacco, which you then inhale to the body's most fragile and irreplaceable organ. If e-smoking concerns you, don't do it. Life has some choices and this is one of them. I choose this to sustain addiction to a somewhat beneficial chemical most often found in deadly clouds of tobacco smoke. What do you choose?