Is 5% nicotine considered high? 5% (50 mg/ml) is a lot of nicotine. It’s the highest concentration of nicotine commonly available to consumers. And it is only recommended to long-time smokers who are struggling to quit with lower dosages.Â
When it comes to choosing the right e-liquid for your vape device, you can get the best e-liquid in the UK, the US, or any other country. But it’s important to make sure you select a nicotine level that’s suitable for your habits! If you’re not quite sure, it’s better to start lower, and you can always get in touch with your vendor for more help! Even though vaping is very much a safer and better alternative to smoking, consuming a lot of nicotine is not great for you as there are even nicotine free vape options.
How Much Nicotine Does a Cigarette Have?
While there is a varied amount when comes to how much nicotine in a cigarette though, one thing that is constant is that your body receives approximately 1 milligram of nicotine from each cigarette. Nicotine content varies a lot between brands of cigarettes, sources give lots of different numbers.
It would be possible to calculate exactly how 5% nicotine in your e-juice compares to a cigarette that contains around 10 mg of nicotine, but it would be a complex calculation.
However, it’s important to remember the distinction between cigarettes and e-liquids. When you first start vaping it takes your body a while to adjust to how it is getting its nicotine. With a cigarette, you get a jolt of it, the first drag you take you can feel it. When you are vaping though, it is absorbed much more slowly, so people tend to start off higher than they need to ward off the nicotine cravings.
How Many Puffs Equals Smoking a Cigarette?
This is a common question that a lot of people ask, but it is dependent on various factors, including:
- The strength of the cigarette you used to smoke
- Your smoking style
- The number of cigarettes you smoke per day
- Your body mass and lung capacity
It would help if you weighed up these factors against what concentration of nicotine is contained in your e-liquid and your style of vaping.
So for example, if your average cigarette has 14 mg of nicotine, your body only absorbs a small amount of this, releasing the rest back out when you exhale the smoke.
However, when you vape, you don’t get nicotine delivered into your system as quickly as smoking does. But note that what is normal for one person might be too much for another person – just like how coffee and alcohol work.
The Amount of Nicotine Inside E-Liquids:
It is better to understand how much nicotine is contained in the E-Liquid you are inhaling.
The density of nicotine inside E-Liquid is as the following:
- Non-nicotine: 0% or 0 mg/ml nicotine, which approximates o No Nicotine.
- Low density: 0.6% or 6 mg/ml nicotine, which approximates Ultra Light Strength Cigarettes.
- Medium density: 1.2% or 12 mg/ml nicotine, which approximates to Light Strength of Cigarettes.
- High density: 1.8% or 18 mg/ml nicotine, which approximates to Medium Strength Cigarettes.
- Extra high density: 2.4% or 24 mg/ml nicotine, which approximates Regular/Strong Cigarettes.
- Extremely high density: 3.0% or 30 mg/ml nicotine, which approximates very Strong Cigarettes.
The nicotine density listed for e-liquid is the number of milligrams of nicotine per milliliter in the E-Liquid.
That means a 10ml bottle of 30mg nicotine e-liquid would have 300mg of nicotine in it (30mgx 10ml). Likewise, a 30ml bottle of 30mg e-liquid would have 600mg of nicotine in it (30mg x 30ml).
The Correlation of Wattage and Nicotine Level:
The heat generated through your vape device depends on the resistance of the coil and the wattage of the device. Bigger coils have lower resistance and require more wattage (power) to reach the same temperature as a smaller coil (higher resistance). Hence, the bigger the coil the more vapour is generated and the more nicotine you get per hit.
This is why generally lower resistance is associated with lower nicotine strengths, and higher resistance with higher nicotine strengths, while wattage is the other way around. For example on a 0.3ohm coil and below 3mg nicotine is enough for virtually everyone (maybe up to 6mg at a push if your tolerance is high). Whereas above 0.8ohm the same person might need 12mg.
Final Note:
Vaping is by far the most successful and effective means to quit smoking. But we must not forget the end goal of switching to vaping, which is to use as little nicotine as possible while still getting a satisfying vape. You can always tweak your nicotine consumption as per your needs and curb it.
