r/science • u/informationtiger • Dec 18 '19

Chemistry Nicotine formula used by e-cigarette maker Juul is nearly identical to the flavor and addictive profile of Marlboro cigarettes

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-juul-ecigarettes-study-idUSKBN1YL26R
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u/Nord_Star Dec 18 '19

LD50 is relatively low but not terribly far from caffeine, and LD50 in toxicology is not actually as useful as you might think. Acute toxicity doesn’t have much correlation with long term effects at low doses in general terms. Obviously this varies based on the chemical, as many factors such as metabolic rates, half-life and tissue deposition come into play. Nicotine has an elimination half-life in the body of only 2 hours and it’s active metabolite cotinine is only 16-18 hours.

Yeah you wouldn’t want to spill a jug of pure nicotine on your skin, but that’s not likely to happen to the average person. To suffer fatal levels of nicotine from vape juice you would essentially have to drink an entire bottle at once.

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u/ObiWendigobi Dec 18 '19

My mistake. Thanks for clarification.