How Much Nicotine In a Disposable Vape VS a Cigarette?

If you intend to quit smoking and look for an alternative to traditional cigarettes, vaping is for you. However, before jumping from one side, you must make an informed decision. 

You might be having questions about the amount of nicotine in disposable vapes, the number of puffs in a vape that equate to a cigarette, and the number of puffs you will get in a day through vaping. Herein, we will help you answer them.

How much nicotine is in one cigarette?

A single cigarette has nicotine levels ranging from 8mg to 20mg. The nicotine in cigarettes is in the form of tobacco. Some cigarettes are more potent than others. Despite the average nicotine volume in a cigarette ranging from 8-20 mg, you may not be able to ingest it through smoking. 

Researchers suggest your body will only absorb about 1 to 2mg of nicotine per cigarette. The researchers believe that factors like tobacco combustion and the rate at which the human body absorbs nicotine contribute to the lower bioavailability.

For instance, if you smoke ten cigarettes, your body may only absorb nicotine ranging from 10mg-20 mg on that day. The research findings may help you determine the nicotine amount you will need. However, the findings are not a size-fit-all. 

Unlike cigarette smoking, it's easy to tell the exact amount of nicotine salt you will take using a disposable vape. Disposable vapes come with a standard volume of already measured nicotine salt.

How much nicotine salt is in Disposable Vapes?

Disposable vapes come with a predetermined amount of nicotine salt in them. Hence, determining the amount of nicotine salt in the disposable vape is straightforward. Nicotine volume is measured by the percentage of the vape form or the total vape juice in milligram concentration.

In the market, you will find a disposable vape that contains 5ml vape juice, indicating 5% as its nicotine salt strength. If you intend to convert the nicotine salt strength from its percentage form to mg/mL, nicotine with 5% strength equates to 50 mg/ml. Therefore, the disposable’s total nicotine salt volume will be 50mg/ml X 5 ml=250 mg.

How many vape nicotine puffs are equal to one cigarette?

When it comes to nicotine puffs in a vape disposable vs. a cigarette, there is no precise metric because cigarettes do not have consistent nicotine levels. 

However, we can use an average nicotine level to tell the number of puffs in such cases. For instance, if a disposable vape contains 6ml vape juice with 5% nicotine strength and a 300 mg nicotine volume, to get the equivalent amount of nicotine, you will need 15-30 cigarettes.

How Many Disposable Vape Nicotine Puffs are Considered Normal?

How many puffs you will take from your disposable vape depends on your vaping habits. The number of puffs as well depends on your nicotine juice’s concentration.

If you take long nicotine puffs that are dense, you are likely to ingest more nicotine vapor than someone who uses their disposable vape sparingly. However, we can estimate the number of puffs as shown below.

For instance, let's take a disposable vape whose tank carries up to 50mg of nicotine and call it “XYZ Vape.” While estimating, we will find that such a disposable vape will give you an average of 800 puffs before the juice in its tank is depleted.

While determining the nicotine level that you should expect from each puff, the easiest equation to use will be: 

Nicotine per puff = total nicotine / total puffs.

So, for our XYZ vape, the values will be:

50mg of nicotine / 800 puffs =  0.0625 mg of nicotine juice in each puff

To relate the number of puffs above wth a cigarette ( assuming the cigarette has1mg of nicotine), you would need 16 puffs off of our “XYZ Vape” to get a similar amount of nicotine as a traditional cigarette offers. 

The values above are just a rough estimate, not the number of puffs you will get. However, these values will help you get almost accurate estimates if you are trying to track your nicotine intake.

Nicotine Delivery Vs. Absorption

Disposables offer vape users a more efficient nicotine delivery method than cigarettes. However, that is not the case when it comes to absorption. The rate and amount of nicotine you vape at any given time determines the strength of your e-juice.

A recent study on traditional cigarettes, first-generation E-Cigarettes, and the latest E-Cigarettes has some interesting findings. 

According to the research, a vaper who ingests an e-liquid with 18mg nicotine strength will absorb one-third to one-fifth of the nicotine after 5 minutes compared to smoking.

The researchers conclude that a tobacco cigarette will deliver nicotine faster than an  E-Cigarette. Hence, you will end up ingesting more puffs to attain the desired amount of nicotine regardless of your nicotine’s high strength.

The variation between delivery and absorption may result from tobacco cigarettes having over 4000 additives, including the ones strengthening nicotine addiction. Unlike tobacco cigarettes, vape E-liquids only contain VG (vegetable glycerine), PG (propylene glycol), flavorings, and nicotine.

Take Away On Disposable Vape Vs. Cigarette  Smoking

After analyzing nicotine variables in E-cigarettes vs. disposable vapes, vape experts have settled on a metric that will help you switch seamlessly from traditional cigarette smoking to vaping.

Generally, a majority of disposable vapes offer 20mg of freebase or nicotine salt. However, other brands in the market offer vapers with lesser strengths that are suitable for novice smokers. These vape’s nicotine strength is as low as 10 or 11mg. 

To ensure quality nicotine hits from a disposable vape, draw long and slow nicotine puffs from your disposable vape. If you need more nicotine to quench your cravings, buy a disposable vape with a high nicotine concentration. Extra potent vape may result in coughing locks and headaches. Consider a disposable with less powerful nicotine salt in this case.

It might help to note that you might end up vaping more than you used to smoke because of nicotine’s salwar intake. Hence, you may consider taking breaks after each puff for effects to manifest. On the other hand, quitting tobacco smoking may be difficult. However, disposable vapes are a safer alternative to helping you quit smoking.