Influence of different forms of tobacco intake on nicotine elimination in man.

In each of three separate experiments mean plasma nicotine t1/2 beta was slightly, but statistically significantly, shorter in habituated compared to naive cigarette smokers. Two of these experiments involved nicotine administration by smoking a cigarette containing a standardized amount of nicotine, whereas in the third experiment nicotine was injected intravenously as a single tracer dose of 14C-nicotine. In contrast to cigarette smokers, naive and habituated snuff dippers had similar mean plasma nicotine t1/2 beta. Habituated pipe smokers tended to have very slightly, but not statistically significantly, shorter plasma nicotine t1/2 beta S than naive pipe smokers. These distinctions are related to special features that characterize each form of tobacco intake.