What to do if vape oil gets on your skin?

It’s understandable that vapers panic when they accidentally get 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 oil, to keep it out of reach of children and pets, and even to call 911 if accidentally ingested. Once you’ve read those warnings, it’s completely understandable to panic when you spill e-liquid on your skin.

But most of the time , warnings are more about ensuring compliance for the manufacturer than informing the user . The question is: is getting a drop or two of e-liquid on your hands toxic to you? Do vapers really need to worry about getting e-liquid 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 something to worry about.

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 of 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, headaches, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, or, in more severe cases, seizures or coma.

In mild poisoning, at most you will 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 getting e-liquid on your hands is extremely normal and not a cause for concern. Regardless of the warning on the bottle, nicotine poisoning from e-liquid 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. That means just a few milliliters of a 24mg bottle could be dangerous. If that’s true, then accidentally spilling a bottle of e-liquid 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 - 1000 mg 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 cause harm to your body. So you might be less worried about getting nicotine on your hands, but that’s not the only problem.

Nicotine can be absorbed through the skin, but very slowly. One study found that it took two hours for an e-liquid containing 8 mg of nicotine to begin to penetrate a skin sample. Nicotine also doesn’t penetrate very quickly, so even if your hands are covered in e-liquid, you’ll only absorb 0.5 mg every half hour.

E-liquids with a lot of nicotine can penetrate the skin faster, 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 essential oils, for example at 70-100mg, you should use thin rubber gloves and wear protective glasses to avoid the solution from splashing 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 your desk, and on the floor. If you do 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 in contact with essential oils: Wash your hands, arms or any part of your body that has come into contact with essential oils 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 and let it dry because the nicotine on it will still be absorbed through your skin.

Watch for poisoning symptoms : 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 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 many 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 milliliters of their favorite e-liquid.