I've heard latex gloves are permable to nicotine and was recommended nitrile gloves instead. Where I live a pack of disposable nitrile gloves is very expensive, and that made me wonder if the much more affordable vinyl gloves will provide sufficient protection against high concentrations of nicotine if spilled? Any input is appreciated.
I found the same question asked three years ago but no one seemed to have a good answer.
100 mg/mL nicotine, which is the strongest nic you should be using in DIY, isn't going to kill you if you get a drop on your skin, just wash it off with water immediately. Gloves are still recommended, any barrier against contact is better than nothing, but care while handling is more important. If you do get it all over your gloves somehow, just take them off and rinse. Still better than no gloves.
Seriously. I don't even get it on me. I just. Pull it out with a syringe and squirt it into the bottle. No need to worry about gloves at all.
Agreed. But it's the accidental exposure we're trying to prevent.
I ran out of nitrile gloves a while ago and started using latex. Yes I know latex is nicotine permeable, but I never get any on me either. I just use the latex so that I can see if I ever do... which never happens. But I figure I'd rather be safe then sorry, and use latex gloves so i have that one little bit of protection. I think if you're safe, careful, and alert, you're probably fine without gloves. But I like the knowledge that if I ever do slip up and spill, I've got a barrier that I can yank off my hands and toss in the trash before it hits my skin.
Exactly. I've gotten 100mg/ml on my hands tons of times, and I rarely run to the sink to wash it off. All that happens is the spot where it landed tingles for a few minutes. Baring some heart or other health issue, you'll be fine.
There's a reason 100mg/mL is the highest legally obtainable.
Theres no law against selling nic at any strength, it's an industrial chemical. It's just typically not marketed to DIYers at anything over 100. Many commercial juice manufacturers can and do buy the pure stuff and dilute it down themselves.
I would say don't wear gloves. You'll feel the drops on your skin if you accidentally touch the nicotine. If that happens, put down everything calmly so you don't spill any more and just wash your hands. A couple of seconds won't kill you and just try to be careful.
This. Just use common sense and wash your hands if you get any on you. It won't kill you or even make you incredibly ill.
Call me crazy but I use 100mg/ml all the time, I would recommend safety glasses or just plain glasses. But skin though, the nicotine doesn't affect me very much. At one point while transferring and breaking down my large nicotine container to smaller ones I had some nicotine sit on my skin during the process.
After about a half hour of working my skin was just a bit irritated, I didn't get a nicotine rush or anything. Didn't sweat. Just washed it off and good to go. Note that I already had super dry skin before hand.
I wouldn't recommend someone with very sensitive skin or overly sensitive to nicotine period handle it without a certain amount of respect to the nicotine.
I use 100mg/ml nic taken out of a 30ml boston round with a pipette, every few weeks i fill up my nic straight from the bottle. ive gotten nic on me and have never felt anything. I vape 0mg so i don't have a tolerance to nic (just from touching it but idk if that increases your "tolerance")
I wouldn't run with the don't wear gloves thing all the time as some others are suggesting. When I transfer from my main supply to smaller bottles, I notice I get a significant amount of nicotine on the gloves. A scenario like this I def think you should wear gloves when dealing with it under certain circumstances where some mess can be created.
When I'm mixing it's from a glass bottle using a dropper. No nicotine gets anywhere at all when I do this except from the dropper into the bottle of eliquid I am mixing. Don't really need gloves here. This is a scenario where as others are saying, if you do get it on you, just be aware of it and wash it off right away and you'll be okay. At the most you'll get a little bit of a tingly sensation.
Also, just get a couple pairs and re-use them. Everytime I buy flavoring my vendor sends free gloves with them, so I have dozens of pairs of them, but I really only use the one pair and not very often. I wipe any nicotine off with a paper towel and toss them back into the big plastic bag I have full of them lol.
Idk. I got nitrile gloves because I don't have steady hands and it's just instinct to rub something clear and wet off on my shirt or pants (when I'm at home). That said, I've yet to get nicotine on anything besides the side of a bottle or on my scale when I miss the hole hehe. I paid $10 for 100 gloves on Amazon. If they don't get any residue on then, I reuse them. They should last me awhile.
I think that nitrile gloves may not be too expensive, considering that most DIYers won't handle 100 mg/ml very often. The best way is to break down the high nic base to easier to handle quantities. For my needs, 100 ml of high nic base would give me 1 lt of eliquid. You don't need to do that often!
Having said that, I think latex gloves are good enough. You're not going to immerse yourself on nic or use them for too long. I do not condone bare hands. A drop may be harmless if you notice it immediately. But several drops will become a problem if they go undetected for some time. Better be safe than sorry.
I believe nitrile is permeable as well, but it's all about time, temperature and exposure. I wear nitrile for other chemical protection and just find them more comfortable. You should be able to find a box of a hundred pair online for 15-20 bucks.
That being said, I don't wear them to mix, I just am careful with the nic and wash my hands right after handling. I've spilled a couple mls on my skin before (shook the bottle, didn't know it was open lol) and washed it off right away, didn't notice any effects from that.
I purchased these a while back and have been very satisfied with their performance. They are porous on the back to allow breathability so if you spill there you'll want to take the glove off and wash, but the palms have the coated protection(you want nitrile coat if you can find them since hey protect better against nicotine but I haven't tried any). What I like is they are comfortable, allow me to keep my dexterity, give me a better grip, and provide a barrier against liquids. You can machine wash and air dry them too so I sill have all 6 pairs
I don't get why you are worried about gloves for protection . when your going to be inhaling what your making . I could see gloves if your mixing for others to be clean but why inhale somthing that your scared to get on your skin wtf since does that make
Nicotine is absorbed rapidly through the skin, imagine spilling upwards of 1mL of 100mg/mL tincture on your hand, that's like smoking 30 - 40 cigarettes in rapid succession. Granted you don't immediately wash it off, like suggested in this thread.