Are Nicotine Salts Safe?

Steven Klett

11th Apr 2023

Are Nicotine Salts Bad For You?

Nicotine salts have become more popular in recent years, allowing vapers a new way to experience vape liquids. Many vapers are unfamiliar with nicotine salts or “nic salts” and that can raise concerns and questions like “Are nicotine salts safe?” and what exactly goes into making them.

If you’re new to vaping, you’re probably wondering about all of the different terms, strengths and not to mention all of the thousands of vape liquid flavors available on the market. Many vapers go through e-liquids by experimenting with what they like and don’t like. That includes nicotine strengths, PG/VG ratios and how natural the vape liquid is. But now that those have become popular terms, nicotine salts have been thrown into the mix and it has left a lot of vapers scratching their heads for an answeTime is precious and researching for hours can take a good amount of time. We’ve put together a resource to help you find the information about nicotine salts and if they’re safe for you to consume. That way, you can spend less time digging through research articles and videos and spend more time buying vape products that you love.

What Are Nicotine Salts?

NKD 100 Salt E-Liquid - Hawaiian POG

Nicotine salts are a form of naturally occurring nicotine that’s found in tobacco leaves. Conventional e-liquids that contain nicotine use freebase nicotine that has been mixed in by the manufacturer of the product. Freebase nicotine is created by isolating nicotine from the tobacco leaves, making it the purest form of nicotine because that’s all it is.

In comparison to freebase nicotine, nicotine salts are a little different. When nicotine salts are extracted from tobacco leaves, they contain other organic and natural compounds that the plant contains. This results in the user having a much richer and enjoyable vaping experience that feels a lot more like actually consuming tobacco. To put it simply, nicotine salts provide the vaper with an experience that’s more natural and closer to tobacco because it contains other compounds within the plant.

Are Nic Salts Safe?

The safety of vaping has always been a bit of a grey area and a hot topic of debate between scientists, doctors, government officials and brands. However, when comparing the best nicotine salts to regular vaping e-liquid, it’s classed as equally as safe.

Even though nicotine salts have been compared to freebase nicotine and show the same levels of safety for users, there are other factors to consider. Freebase nicotine is a lot easier to combine with VG/PG vape liquids. To combine nicotine salts, the manufacturer has to also introduce benzoic acid to make the liquid usable. The studies on the inhalation of benzoic acid haven’t shown any harmful effects, however, it’s important to note that research on long-term use is very limited.

Vaping nicotine products as a whole has become more widely accepted and whether its freebase nicotine or nicotine salts, it’s considered as safe than smoking cigarettes. Vaping doesn’t involve any combustion and therefore no exposure to toxins and carcinogens that are present when smoking cigarettes.

Traditional E-Liquids vs Nicotine Salts Vape Liquid

Some vapers prefer conventional vape liquid because nicotine salts aren’t for everyone. However, if you’re a former smoker you may prefer nicotine salts because it has closer effects to that of cigarettes, without all the other nasty chemicals found in a pack of smokes.

Traditional vape juice benefits:

More Availability: conventional e-liquids have been around for years now, making them available in vape shops, drug stores and even grocery stores. Nicotine salts haven’t caught up yet and are still sold in a limited capacity.
Variety: there are like a gazillion flavors of conventional e-liquid. Okay, well maybe that not many but there are thousands of flavors to choose from around the world. E-liquids can be easily replaced if you’re out or running low. Finding nic salts can be a bit tougher as their flavor options and manufacturers are limited.
Devices: whether you’re rocking a box mod with a sub-ohm tank or you’ve got a portable little vape pen, you can use freebase nicotine liquid with any device. E-liquids made with nicotine salts require using a low-wattage device that’s able to deliver a high dosage of nicotine with a very low power setting.
Nicotine levels: if you’re looking to cut down on nicotine or even drop it completely, freebase nicotine e-liquids provide significantly less nicotine.

Nicotine salts benefits:

Higher nicotine strength: nic salts deliver higher levels of nicotine to users in every hit. Traditional e-liquids only go up to around 12mg of nicotine, however, nicotine salts can go as high as 50mg of nicotine. If you’re making the transition from smoking to vaping and want to provide more of a seamless experience, nic salts are the way to go.
More flavorful: ever had a vape juice with too much freebase nicotine in it? It can be harsh on the throat and taste awful. Nicotine salts give the user a much more enjoyable vaping experience because the flavor profile is closer to what the manufacturer intended.
Smoother: if you’re a vaper, you’ve most likely experienced a coughing fit or two. Freebase nicotine at high levels usually leads to a sore throat, coughing and harshness that can leave you feeling sore. Nicotine salts have a lot less bite, even at the same level of nicotine as freebase liquids. You can experience and enjoy a smoother vaping experience without substituting any of the nicotine levels.
Less is more: nic salts are designed for use in low-wattage vaporizers without degrading any of the vaping experience. You’ll be able to use less nicotine salts e-liquid because you feel more satisfied after every hit and also the battery on your vaping device will last longer.