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Is getting e-liquid on your skin harmful?


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Just in case this is a legit question, and not just another troll...

 

Everything is harmful in large enough quantities... drink a few gallons of water in a short period of time, and you could die.  Too much salt in a day, and you can die.. drink the entire keg of Guinness, and you could die of alcohol poisoning... seeing a pattern yet?

 

You're VAPING the same thing, so how can it be different to vape it than to get it on your skin??  Use some logic and common sense, and stop listening to the propaganda-machine of the Ministry of Public Health and the Media!!!

 

If you are a smoker (former smoker), getting a little e-liquid on your skin will not even bother you at all.  The Nicotine is absorbed into the skin rapidly, which is why you should keep e-liquids and e-cigs AWAY from children and pets, because exposure is rapid.  Children, non-smokers, and pets can get sick from Nicotine, because it is a stimulant (NOT A TOXIN, NOT A CARCINOGEN).

 

To achieve lethal toxicity levels (for an avg adult), you would have to absorb/consume 500-1000mg of pure nicotine (and many -mostly smokers- have survived MUCH higher doses).  At 1.8% dilution levels, that's 18mg per ml.... or 27.8ml (roughly a full fluid-oz) to equal a 500mg dose... or 55.5ml (roughly 2 fluid-oz) to equal a 1000mg dose.  Therefore, a few drops of e-liquid on your skin... NO, it won't poison you, but you should minimize your exposure (again, common sense)!

 

Those of us who regularly handle 100mg/ml bulk-Nicotine exercise extreme caution, using Nitrile or latex gloves, arm protection, goggles, and even face-masks to protect us from accidental drips or spatters.  No, a spatter of 100mg/ml is not lethal, but can make you experience nausea and vomiting, excessive salivation, abdominal pain, pallor, sweating, hypertension, tachycardia, ataxia, tremor, headache, dizziness, muscle fasciculations, and seizures.

 

 

Interesting Factoid....

 

The toxicity of Nicotine in Rats is 10X the tolerance level than humans... so why are all these labs using rats/mice to study the effects of Nicotine or smoking?

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Earthling gave you the facts of it. I'll give you a couple of examples.

 

We've all gotten some of the e-liquid with nicotine on our skins when we fill a tank or accidentally open the tank and the juice just spills out. When that happens, we just go clean up by washing our hands, changing clothes (if it got that far), wiping down the battery with a slightly wet wash cloth then a dry one, wiping up any excess that may have spilled elsewhere like the floor or desk or table, etc. Use common sense and you should be fine. Nicotine is something to take care with, but be sensible, use your head and you should be fine.  :)

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I was going to say something but I won't.

What I will say is your question has been answered.

Nah, I'll go ahead and say it. I lick the tips of my 36mg bottles after I fill my tanks. Never ever have I felt sick in any way at all. I have also spilt that same mg on my hands. Guess what I did. You guessed it!!! Didn't wash my hands at all...Licked them clean... Never got sick either.

Bottom line is don't worry unless your a little child or your a pet of some kind...

Now on the other hand...If it was 100mg nic base, that might be another story. I'm willing to be a ginnie pig though. I honestly don't think that would even be a problem enough to send me to the ER. Yes, I'm a big guy so I will say it again...

A child or a pet yes. An adult...Not really..

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Hi,

 

I have recently started using e-cigarettes and was wondering if it is harmful to get the 18mg e-liquid on your skin? I have read it can seep in to your skin and cause poisoning via the nicotine levels in it...is this true?

Don't fret.

If a 10mg. drop landed on your tongue, you wouldn't die, probably wouldn't make you sick either. Hasn't killed me or the past nasty stuff.

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  • 1 month later...

I actually tested this with 0.6% and 0.8%...I dropped about a tea spoon of e-liquid in my skin, wiped  my hands with toilet paper and waited about 10 minutes before I cleaned my hands with warm water... I felt a bit weird for about 1 hour, but I still alive. :D

Edited by cesar
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  • 2 weeks later...

One of the major components of most eliquids is propylene glycol, more commonly referred to as PG. 

Which is actually the biggest problem with e-liquids, as for PG itself is use in antifreeze products... but the Pharmaceutical grade PG that most e-liquids use is perfectly safe.

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I wish i could erase your last post, Cesar. Its really quite uninformed on a couple of levels.  Others should disregard it.  I'll address it fully a little later unless someone else wants to jump in.

 

 

I actually done a lot of research in E-liquids ...took me ages to be convinced that is safe to use... but by all means, correct me if I'm wrong.

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Man I hate this new editor.  I just spent a half an hour detailing my response and locked up.   The short version follows:

 

sorry, I am being a little harsh on you because your post does not contain enough information to make it useful and Implies a couple of things that cannot be taken as truths. 

 

Point #1 -  when you use the term "antifreeze",  90% of people are going to equate that with what is commonly thought of as automotive antifreeze and pg is not an ingredient in automotive antifreeze.  Also, the association of one ingredient in antifreeze is out of context and is irrelevant and alarmist.  Water is used in anitfreeze. So what. Equating chemicals with each other because they are used together is irrelevant. 

IPoint #2 - PG itself has a lower freezing point than water. It is used in conjunction with other chemicals as an ingredient to lower the freezing point of fluids used in equipment where hazardous exposure of the fluids to humans, animals, foods etc must be taken in to consideration.  PG is considered benign - has no detrimental or toxic effects in relative quantities. Again, it's use as an ingredient in anything else is irrelevant.

point #3 - you call it's use in e-liquids "the biggest problem" - it's a misstatement. I don't know what you mean by that statement. You might as well say "the biggest problem" with water is it's used as an ingredient in antifreeze.  It's just absurd.

point #4 - you have no way of proving pharmaceutical grade pg is in "most e-liquid".  In fact "pharmaceutical grade" is a designation placed on a product by the USP and only sold by physicians and limited pharmacies.  It is not likeLy e-juice manufacturers are using pharma grade pg. Not impossible, but not likely.  You also cannot say it's "perfectly safe" (in the context of vaporizing it).  No one knows that and it hasn't been proven to be fact.

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PG have different grades... industrial, and pharmaceutical. The industrial grade is use in things like antifreeze, pharmaceutical grade in things like food. Also PG is a "toxic chemical", but with different grades of toxicity..

Anyway... lets not get in a silly forum war.. I hate those.;)

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Okay, Cesar. Just stop now please, lol.  I am not interested in a "forum war" 

ive got my foot on your chest and I've just pinned your body to the ground with my broadsword and enjoying a snack of your heart.  :)

 

the grades are:

1) pharmaceutical

2) food grade

3) farm grade

4) Industrial grade

 

they are all separate grades and deal with their certification and/or purity or source.  E juice more commonly uses food grade.  You should never use farm grade or industrial grade for consumption.

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There are actually 3 levels of grading

Industrial Grade (Used in antifreeze and other uses not meant to be consumed)

Food Grade (USP)

Pharmaceutical Grade (Hard to get and only difference from 100% pure food grade is a certification)

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And for anybody else who's paying attention, I should add that Food grade doesn't necessarily mean it is less pure than pharmaceutical grade. Food grade just hasn't been "certified" or tested for pharmaceutical use.  It may very well be just as pure as pharma grade and for all I can tell is likely to be. 

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PG have different grades... industrial, and pharmaceutical. The industrial grade is use in things like antifreeze, pharmaceutical grade in things like food. Also PG is a "toxic chemical", but with different grades of toxicity..

Anyway... lets not get in a silly forum war.. I hate those.;)

Are you aware that you will find PG in asthma inhalers? It's also used in hospitals because it's an effective anti-bacterial agent.  :)

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