Nicotine Tests

How Long Does Nicotine Stay In Your System?

When you smoke, nicotine is processed by your body and it will get rid of the substance over time. It is estimated that about 80 percent of the nicotine that you inhale is converted to cotinine in the liver. In the lungs, nicotine is metabolized into cotinine and nicotine oxide. The cotinine and other metabolites are then excreted in the urine. Cotinine is a reliable and necessary indicator of nicotine usage and in the scientific community is known as a “biomarker” for tobacco use. That’s why a nicotine test is also known as a cotinine test – because the test actually tests for the presence of cotinine in urine.

The length of time that nicotine stays in your body for will depend on three factors: the amount you smoke, the number of years that you have been smoking for, and the type of nicotine test that is performed.

If the nicotine test is a urine test, you should be clean within 2-4 days of your last smoke. For heavy smokers, it might take a week (and possibly longer) for the cotinine traces to leave your urine or remain so small that they are undetectable. Cotinine may take longer to be released from the body if you smoke menthol cigarettes, so that is another thing to keep in mind. You can read an exact case study on this issue at Science Blog.

Cotinine is detectable in blood for at least several days after exposure to tobacco smoke. Depending on how much you smoke, the level of cotinine in your blood will reflect a nonsmoker level in 7 to 10 days.

The nicotine test that offers the longest detection window is a hair follicle nicotine test. These are rarely administered due to their expense, but they do exist. Nicotine can be detected for months after smoking cessation in the hair. Nicotine makes it to the hair the way all other drugs do, by its presence in the blood that nourishes the hair follicle.

While there are methods that you can use to clear your system of nicotine for a while, the ill effects of nicotine should be understood. There is nothing better than kicking the habit that can bring harm to you and your loved ones.

Can Electronic Cigarettes show up on a Nicotine Test?

Yes. The nicotine test is not testing for tobacco use, but instead for cotinine, a nicotine metabolite. E-Cigarettes produce an aerosol that contains nicotine and other tobacco-related compounds. While e-cigarettes may deliver less nicotine than traditional cigarettes, they can still show up on a Nicotine/Cotinine test. You can find a detailed study on this subject here Nicotine Levels in Electronic Cigarettes or a FDA Lab Analysis of Electronic Cigarettes

Nicotine Test Uses

Businesses – More employers are testing their prospective or current employees for nicotine than ever. Life insurance companies continue to test for nicotine, through urine or blood-based testing, in order to determine premiums and detect fraud. Our nicotine test is a very standard urine test that is used by employers all over the country.

Test Yourself! – There are plenty of people who use nicotine tests, by themselves or in conjunction with their family, to gauge their progress in quitting and keep themselves honest. It’s simple and easy to buy one of our nicotine tests for yourself and keep yourself on the long and difficult path to being smoke-free.

Parents – Every day in the US, approximately 3,000 teens under the age of 18 begin using nicotine and 4.5 million teens are smokers. As anyone who has been a smoker knows, smoking is very hard to quit, and it doesn’t help that starting to smoke when you’re a teen makes it more likely that you’ll continue the habit than starting in your adult life. For parents these tests are a great way to keep your kid honest about their use, especially since second-hand smoke does not show up on these tests.