How much nicotine is in a vape? The caps, mg/mL and totals
Total nicotine is strength times volume. The UK caps in MHRA's own words, the strengths FDA lists for authorised US pods, and the sums laid out.
How much nicotine is in a vape depends on two numbers: strength in milligrams per millilitre, times the volume of liquid. A UK tank, capped at 2ml and 20mg/ml, holds at most 40mg; a 10ml UK refill at the cap holds 200mg. Several US pods on FDA’s authorised list run stronger; Glas G2 pods are listed at 50 mg/mL.
This is an evergreen explainer, not news. This desk read the MHRA’s e-cigarette regulations guidance (last updated 16 August 2024) and FDA’s list of authorized e-cigarettes (content current as of 28 August 2026) on 8 October 2026. The caps are theirs; the multiplication is ours.
| Product (source) | Strength | Volume | Total nicotine |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK tank at both caps (MHRA) | 20mg/ml | 2ml | 40mg |
| UK refill bottle at both caps (MHRA) | 20mg/ml | 10ml | 200mg |
| Glas G2 pods (FDA list) | 50 mg/mL | not read | 50mg per ml |
| NJOY DAILY EXTRA (FDA list) | 6% | not read | about 60mg per ml* |
| JUULpods, NJOY ACE, Vuse Alto, top strength (FDA list) | 5% | not read | about 50mg per ml* |
| JUUL2 Virginia Tobacco (FDA list) | 18 mg/mL | not read | 18mg per ml |
| Vuse Ciro Cartridge (FDA list) | 1.5% | not read | about 15mg per ml* |
*The desk’s conversion, reading the percentage as weight per volume. FDA’s list does not say which it means.
What are the UK limits on nicotine in a vape?
The MHRA is the competent authority for the UK notification scheme under Part 6 of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. Its guidance lists the requirements in plain terms: tanks restricted to “a capacity of no more than 2ml”, refill containers to 10ml of nicotine-containing liquid, and e-liquids to “a nicotine strength of no more than 20mg/ml”, with child-resistant, tamper-evident packaging. Products are notified to the MHRA under that scheme; the guidance as read here describes notification, not approval. Those are maxima: a 2ml tank of 10mg/ml liquid holds 20mg, not 40.
How much nicotine is in a vape sold in the US?
FDA’s page says 48 e-cigarettes are authorised, and calls them “the only e-cigarettes that may be lawfully sold in the United States”. The list prints strengths, not volumes, so the table stops at milligrams per millilitre. The same page is blunt that authorisation “does not mean these products are safe, nor are they ‘FDA approved.’” Note the mixed units, too: Glas and JUUL2 print mg/mL, while the other strengths in the table print per cent.
Why total nicotine is not the dose you get
Contained is not absorbed, and the format matters: FDA notes some products carry additives that may make it easier for the body to absorb more nicotine, a point that bears on the salt format this site has covered before. The totals also matter outside the lungs, which is why swallowed e-liquid is a poisons question, and why blending two bottles needs the mixing maths done first.
FAQ
What does 20mg/ml mean on a vape?
It means every millilitre of e-liquid contains 20 milligrams of nicotine. Multiply by the volume for the total: a 2ml tank at 20mg/ml holds 40mg, a 10ml bottle 200mg. In the UK, 20mg/ml is also the ceiling, the highest strength the MHRA’s guidance allows an e-liquid to carry.
Is 5% nicotine a lot in a vape?
On FDA’s list it is near the top. JUULpods, NJOY ACE and Vuse Alto all appear on FDA’s authorised list at 5%, and only NJOY DAILY EXTRA (6%) and Glas G2 (50 mg/mL) print higher. Read as weight per volume, 5% is roughly 50 mg/mL, two and a half times the UK cap.
How much nicotine is in a disposable vape?
Strength times reservoir volume. Under the UK caps a device can hold at most 2ml at 20mg/ml, so 40mg. US products are not bound by those caps, and this desk read no US pod volume, so it prints no US per-device total.
How much nicotine is in a vape compared to a cigarette?
No primary source read for this post gives a per-cigarette milligram figure, so this desk does not print one. The comparison is also slippery: what a product contains is not what the body absorbs. FDA’s nicotine page gives no milligram figure either; it says cigarettes are designed to deliver nicotine to the brain within seconds.
Whatever the number on the label, it measures an addictive drug. FDA puts it plainly: tobacco products are addictive because they contain nicotine. This desk writes for adults who already vape; if you do not, no strength on this page is a reason to start.