Making a switch to Nicotine Level ( % ) by Volume
Nicotine content and how our True Nicotine Formula worked
How much nicotine is in my vape juice? And how much nicotine is too much? These are some of the most commonly asked questions as people switch from cigarettes to vaping. It is very important to take note of your nicotine consumption especially if you are switching to vaping in order to quit smoking. This is why we at ePuffer came up with a True Nicotine formula that is based on Per Unit (Unit meaning per cigarette) calculation to make it easy for you to get started.
Understanding the True Nicotine Formula
If you are an ‘old’ smoker, we are sure you will remember how cigarette companies used to imprint information about TAR and Nicotine content on the side of the cigarette pack. Although not so many cigarette companies do publish this information now, it is important to note that, several years ago, this was the only source where smokers could get information about their nicotine intake. For instance, if you wanted a regular cigarette, then you would have to look for a pack with 1.0mg nicotine imprinted. For example, a pack of Big Old Red listed 1mg nicotine per unit. By one unit, we mean one smoked cigarette. This means that, if you took one cigarette, that corresponds to 1mg of nicotine. So if you took a pack of twenty cigarettes, then you will have consumed 20mg of nicotine. To help consumers make an informed decision, we at ePuffer decided to mark our e-cigarette nicotine level using per Unit calculation:
1.2mg- Regular | 0.6mg-Mild | 0.3mg- Light | 0mg- Zero
As you can see, nicotine per unit made it so easy for smokers to choose what best works for them as far as the nicotine content level is concerned.
What is the Unit?
We conducted a research by interviewing more than 500 smokers across the globe. We wanted to know approximately how many puffs does it take for a consumer to finish one cigarette. Although different people will have different smoking rates, we were able to gather the following data that helped us set a unit at 15 puffs.
30 smokers reported - 9 puffs
50 smokers reported - 10 puffs
90 smokers reported - 12 puffs
120 smokers reported - 14 puffs
170 smokers reported - 15 puffs
70 smokers reported - 16 puffs
When designing our Magnum SNAPS cartomizer, we made the cartridge e-liquid capacity at 1ml for easy calculation.
Now let’s get into formulas and calculations:
As we have already mentioned, ( 1 unit = 1 cigarette ) is set at 15 puffs. One SNAPS cartomizer is equivalent to around 300 puffs. So if we take one cartomizer (300 puffs) and divide by one unit (15 puffs), then that will give us 20 units. This means that 1 cartomizer is equivalent to one pack of 20 cigarettes.
Now if we take 24mg/ml nicotine e-liquid, then this means that every single ml of the e-liquid contains 24mg of nicotine which can easily be expressed as 2.4% by volume. ( 24mg/ml=24g/lx100/1000=2.4% )
Here is how our True Nicotine Formula worked:
If we divide 24mg by 300 puffs, we get 0.08mg per puff. This means that, if we take one cigarette which is equivalent to 15 puffs (0.08 multiplied by 15 puffs or one cigarette) we will get 1.2mg of nicotine in every cigarette unit.
As already mentioned, people will take varying periods of time to consume one cigarette. This means that different vapers will consume different amounts of nicotine. For better understanding, this is illustrated in the following table. Please note that the calculations are based on 0.08mg nicotine per a single puff.
• 9 puffs = 0.72mg
• 10 puffs = 0.80mg
• 11 puffs = 0.88mg
• 12 puffs = 0.96mg
• 13 puffs = 1.04mg
• 14 puffs = 1.12mg
• 15 puffs = 1.20mg
• 16 puffs = 1.28mg
Why are we switching to percentage based nicotine labelling?
Although our formula works and we have been using it since ePuffer inception, starting from 1st of October 2018, we will be switching to percentage based nicotine labelling as opposed to per unit labelling.
Why? Because vaping industry has evolved over the years and vapers are now more experienced and informed as far as mg/ml, %, nicotine dosage / labeling is concerned. We also must comply with the FDA / EU TPD regulatory requirements.
How is the nicotine content measured?
Nicotine content in an e-liquid is measured in mg/ml which is often expressed in percentage. For instance, a 1.2% nicotine e-liquid will contain 12mg of nicotine per millilitre. Nicotine content increases with percentage and hence the lower the percentage, the lower the nicotine content and vice-versa.
