I am a bit confused about how much nicotine is inhaled smoking a real cig and how the correlates when using an e-cig?
Like one cigarette contains how many mg's of nic?
1 ml of say 24mg nic would equal how much nic intake or how many real cigs?
The problem with trying to create a numerical equivalency between cigarettes and ecig refill liquid (nic strengths) is that it just doesn't work. This is probably because we don't have all the data we need to construct an accurate calculation - leaving aside the fact that since there is a difference in nicotine tolerance between individuals of a factor of 10, such a calculation would not be individually accurate in any case. In other words, we might eventually be able to calculate that equivalent, but it would have limited application to an individual, since what suits you could easily be 5 times too strong or too weak for me.
There are so many variables in such a calculation that it becomes pointless even when the exact figures are known (and currently we are a long way off that point anyway). For example, the average nicotine transfer of hardware is well-demonstrated as 50% - but what if your rig has a 10% transfer efficiency? Or an 80% efficiency? Both are possible, and would remove any accuracy in the calculation. Then, we have to consider the known and the unknown unknowns: because we can clearly see from plasma nic measurements that pure nic works about 33% to 40% better than smoked nic, there must be at least one unknown in the mix.
For example, a known unknown is the difference in the biovailability of cigarette smoke nicotine and ecig vapor nicotine: we cannot just assume it is the same when delivered in smoke or in a water-based aerosol. There may also be unknown unknowns: things we don't know that we don't know.
Alien Traveller's post at #125 could well be about right since the numbers don't look correct even when we add in the one factor that we do know. However it's worth keeping in mind that cigarette nicotine strengths are continually falling, so a cig could well deliver 0.6mg nic at this time. This would mean the cigarette-delivered nic figure might need reducing by nearly half. And user profile affects it too (do you smoke the entire tobacco content? Do you draw heavily or lightly? Do you suck it in deep or puff it shallow?)
Essentially, all we know currently is that:
1. With current data it is impossible to accurately calculate a cigarette-to-ecig nicotine equivalency.
2. Users self-titrate (adjust it themselves) so that they get the desired effect. In effect it doesn't matter anyway.
3. When plasma nic levels are measured, we find that dual-user vapers when vaping measure about 33% to 40% less nic than when smoking. They get the same effect with significantly less (measurable) nicotine, apparently.
4. A calculation wouldn't be much use anyway, except perhaps as an average, because:
a) Vapers have a factor-10 difference in individual tolerance to nicotine - some can't over-vape 6mg, and some need 60mg to avoid relapse. 60mg would be really nasty for the 6mg vapers; but the high-strength vapers can't even feel 36mg.
b) Each vaper varies in nicotine tolerance over time in any case: people usually find they need less and less, as their smoking history recedes into the past.
Too many unknowns. Just do what feels right
