It’s understandable that vapers panic when they accidentally spill e-liquid on their skin. There’s always a warning on the e-liquid bottle that warns users not to come into direct contact with the e-liquid, to keep it out of reach of children and pets, and even to call an emergency center if accidentally ingested. Once you’ve read those warnings, it’s completely understandable to panic when e-liquid gets on your skin.
But most of the warnings are more to ensure the standards of the manufacturer than to inform the user . The question is: is getting a drop or two of e-liquid on your hand toxic to you? Do vapers really need to worry about e-liquid getting on their skin?
And here's what you should know.
Nicotine can be absorbed through the skin.
There is some truth to the warnings on your e-liquid bottles. Nicotine works in patches because it can be absorbed through the skin. Likewise, tobacco harvesters sometimes suffer from what is called “green tobacco disease” when the nicotine in the plant is absorbed through their hands. So it is not surprising that there is a warning on e-liquids containing nicotine. The important question is whether it is really a concern.
Symptoms of nicotine poisoning.
You will most likely not notice any symptoms if you spill e-liquid on yourself. Even a heavy e-liquid like 24-36mg nicotine does not contain enough nicotine to be absorbed at a noticeable rate . Unless you have somehow gotten your hands and arms covered in e-liquid without wiping or washing them off, you will probably experience some of the common symptoms of nicotine poisoning, such as nausea, stomach cramps, headache, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, or in more severe cases, seizures or coma.
In mild poisoning, at most you will only feel a slight pain in your stomach and head. This is also the reason why you feel a little nauseous if you vape too much nicotine. But for vapers who regularly use vape systems, it can be admitted that e-liquid spilling on your hands is extremely normal and not a cause for concern. Regardless of the warning on the bottle, nicotine poisoning from e-liquid spilling on the skin is almost impossible.
How much nicotine is dangerous?
The big question is: how much nicotine is dangerous? The answer from sources, including the CDC, is about 60mg for an adult. This means that just a few milliliters of a 24mg bottle could be dangerous. If that’s true, then accidentally spilling a bottle of this size on yourself is very dangerous.
The problem is that the number 60mg is wrong , researcher Bernd Mayer tried to find the origin of this conclusion, so after much research and reading related documents, it turned out that the conclusion of 60mg was just a speculation from more than a century ago, based on an unsecured spontaneous study that happened at that time. According to accurate research today, it must be from 500 - 1000mg to be dangerous.
That’s the conclusion for nicotine doses that can cause severe poisoning. You may experience some reactions even at lower doses. However, cases of vapers absorbing too much nicotine usually only have symptoms like when you drink too much coffee. And that only happens because of vaping too much in a short time, not because of a little bit of e-liquid on your hand.
Should you be afraid to use essential oils?
As we’ve already made clear, you’d have to ingest a huge amount of nicotine to be harmful to your body. So you might be less worried about getting nicotine on your hands, but that’s not the only problem.
Nicotine does penetrate the skin, but very slowly. One study found that it took two hours for an 8mg e-liquid to begin penetrating a skin sample. Nicotine doesn’t penetrate very quickly either, so even if your hands are covered in e-liquid, you’ll only absorb 0.5mg every half hour.
E-liquids with a lot of nicotine can be absorbed through the skin more quickly, but you’re unlikely to have any serious problems. For you to really have a problem, you’d have to get at least your whole arm covered in e-liquid and let it sit all day instead of washing it off.
You need to consider more when using high concentration nicotine to mix e-liquid, for example at 70-100mg, you should use thin rubber gloves and wear goggles to avoid the solution being splashed while mixing.
What to do when essential oil gets on your hands?
If you accidentally get essential oil on your hands, don't panic, you can follow a few simple steps below to ensure your safety.
Consider the situation: Getting a little essential oil on your hands is different than spilling the entire bottle on yourself, on the table, and on the floor. If you spill that much, remember that the people most at risk are children and pets, so remove them and pets from the area immediately.
Wash the skin area that has come into contact with essential oil: Wash your hands, arms, or any part of your body that has come into contact with essential oil with warm water.
Wipe up spilled areas: If you spill essential oil on the table or floor, wipe it up with a paper towel. If the spill is large, you can use sawdust or cat litter to soak up the spill before wiping, then clean the area with floor cleaner.
Change clothes: If you spill e-liquid on your clothes, do not wear the shirt again and let it dry naturally because the nicotine on it will still be absorbed through your skin.
Watch for symptoms of poisoning : Even if you think you’ve solved the problem, it’s possible that you missed some spots that were contaminated with essential oils or that you spilled more than you thought. Watch for symptoms like nausea, stomach pain, and headaches so you know to seek help if necessary.
Although it is rare, if you do experience severe symptoms after spilling essential oils on yourself, call your nearest emergency center, describe the situation, and ask for advice. You should be fine after a few minutes of rest, but be careful and seek help if necessary.
Stay calm if essential oil gets on your hands.
Despite the numerous warnings about nicotine-containing e-liquids, most vapers have no serious problems with getting a little e-liquid on their head. The most important thing for them is probably losing a few ml of their favorite e-liquid.
