Chemical question: Which compound is formed by nicotine and plastic?

[Miguelitinho]

Hi there,

comunist Germany has come so far to prohibit nicotine bases with more than 20mg/ml content. Anyhow sensible to protect stupid people from killing themselves. I have handled a base with 48mg/ml and the following happened, now I wonder what happened precisely:

I filled my nicotine base into a common plastic bottle of 30ml volume. After a few weeks I noticed that the base has become pink to flesh-colored. I actually assumed coloring of liquids was caused by some chemical reactions of the flavouring and nicotine. Now that there are no flavourings contained, I must assume my nicotine has formed a compound with components of the plastic bottle. I don't know which plastic this bottles are made of. At the bottom of the bottle is an imprinted 2. Maybe that's an indication. However compounds of nicotine and phthalates seem a lot less sympathetic to me than of nicotine and the components of high-quality flavourings.

If you know something about plastic components that react with nicotine I'd be very interested.
I guess I should no longer use the colored nicotine, should I?

 

[The Cromwell]

Nicotine will oxidize to a yellow color when exposed to light, air and or heat.

 

[pulsevape]

alot of nicotines will turn pink from oxidation..exposure to oxygen.....personally I never put any nicotine containing liquid in anything but glass.

 

[Carambrda]

Plastic number 2 refers to High-density polyethylene (HDPE) type plastic. It does not release compounds into the nicotine liquid.

@The Cromwell is right about what causes the coloration, but the color can vary from yellow to brown, or even pink. http://vapingunderground.com/threads/what-does-the-color-of-my-nicotine-mean.102322

 

[The Cromwell]

Yeah more of an orange color for my nicotine that I use.
I only use authentic Nicotine none of the clone stuff.

 

[UncleRJ]

C4?

 

[Miguelitinho]

Thank you all for the information.
So it's simply an oxidation.
What do you think about oxidized nicotine? should you smoke it?
Other substances just lose a little of their effect by oxidation but remain harmless e.g. adrenaline.

 

[The Cromwell]

Thank you all for the information.
So it's simply an oxidation.
What do you think about oxidized nicotine? should you smoke it?
Other substances just lose a little of their effect by oxidation but remain harmless e.g. adrenaline.

I would not smoke it but it is fine to vape.
Might be a bit weaker on the nic content and could be a bit peppery tasting. Both are side effects of nic oxidizing.
But just as safe to vape as non oxidized nic.

 

[Huckleberried]

I agree with everyone - oxidation, I've had nic change to yellow, pink and a very light orange, depending on the vendor from whom I purchased. I had one at one time that even turned to a really dark brown. Most of the nic I've purchased over the last couple years does stay clear, but what you have really shouldn't be of any concern. You could go to the extreme of getting a nic test kit. Here in the states, they're easy to get, so I have no idea if you have a vendor to purchase one from. If it were me, with a 20mg purchase, I can't say I would, though.

 

[The Cromwell]

I agree with everyone - oxidation, I've had nic change to yellow, pink and a very light orange, depending on the vendor from whom I purchased. I had one at one time that even turned to a really dark brown. Most of the nic I've purchased over the last couple years does stay clear, but what you have really shouldn't be of any concern. You could go to the extreme of getting a nic test kit. Here in the states, they're easy to get, so I have no idea if you have a vendor to purchase one from. If it were me, with a 20mg purchase, I can't say I would, though.

Yes my nic only seems to develop a color after it is mixed with something. As I do not put nic in my pg/vg until mixing the batch of juice I do not know if just PG/VG would cause it to change or not.
I suspect shaking and mixing air in with PG/VG would cause oxidation though.

I add my nic to juice mix straight from 100PG based nic bottle with syringe.

 

[Huckleberried]

I mix an 8 ounce nic base of my ratio and it does, depending on the nic I'm using. I have stuff in my freezer from 2-3 years ago that I'm using right now. Most of them have still been clear, but the one I'm currently using has a bit of tinge to it. And to be honest, I can't recall if that bottle had the tinge at the time, or not. I'll know when I open the next one, but that'll be quite a while.

 

[outwest]

I've had nicotine show up from the vendor already slightly pink from oxidization. I store it all in amber glass in the freezer, spraying a little bit of argon gas into the bottle before closing (argon is heavier than oxygen, so it forms a protective layer on top of the liquid).

Mixing it with flavorings does seem to make it oxidize faster.

Oxidized nicotine won't hurt you, but may be a little bit harsh.

 

[The Cromwell]

I split my liters of 100mg nic in PG up in 120 ml clear glass bottles and put in freezer leaving minimal airspace in the neck.
Using 2 yrs old stuff now and still clear as can be.
Of course it is a deep freezer and is not often opened and stuff is covering up the plastic tubs of nic.

 

[pulsevape]

Thank you all for the information.
So it's simply an oxidation.
What do you think about oxidized nicotine? should you smoke it?
Other substances just lose a little of their effect by oxidation but remain harmless e.g. adrenaline.

yeah nicotine loses some of it's effect after being oxidized, but not that much....the real problem is that the nic becomes so peppery that it drowns out alot of the flavors.plus it is unpleaseant.