How Long Does Nicotine Stay In Your System? - Healthline

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HealthlineSubscribeHow Long Can Nicotine Stay in Your System?

Medically reviewed by Alana Biggers, M.D., MPH — Written by Heather Hobbs — Updated on January 28, 2025

Urine
Blood and saliva
Hair
Clearing nicotine
Withdrawal
FAQ
Takeaway

The time nicotine stays in your system depends on how long and how often you’re exposed to it. It also depends on whether you smoked it, chewed it, or inhaled it secondhand.

Whenever you smoke cigarettes, vape, chew tobacco, or inhale secondhand cigarette smoke, nicotine is absorbed into your bloodstream.

Enzymes in your liver break most of the nicotine down into cotinine. The more nicotine you ingest, the higher the amount of cotinine in your urine. These substances are eventually eliminated through your kidneys as urine.

Cotinine can be a marker to detect exposure to nicotine as it has high sensitivity and its half-life is longer than other nicotine metabolites.

Testing for cotinine can usually tell whether you smoke or vape versus whether you have had indirect exposure. How long it stays in your system depends on how you ingest the nicotine and how often.

Keep reading to learn how long nicotine stays in your urine, blood, saliva, and hair.

How long do traces of nicotine stay in your urine?

Cotinine is generally used as a marker for nicotine exposure. Because concentrations are higher in urine than in blood or saliva, they’re usually tested for in urine.

A 2019 study found that the cotinine urine test could detect whether a person had smoked for at least 3 days after. Another study from 2020 found that cotinine may still be detectable in urine for at least 8 weeks.

However, each person’s body metabolizes nicotine differently. Genetic differences can also affect the amount of time cotinine is detectable in the body.

Your cotinine levels also depend on how long since you last ingested nicotine.

If you’re a current smoker, urine cotinine levels may be 1,000 to 8,000 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL). If you smoke but go 2 weeks without nicotine exposure before testing, you may show urine cotinine levels of less than 50 ng/mL.

However, each lab can have different reference ranges for positivity, so it’s important to discuss the results with a doctor or technician.

Additionally, people with heavy exposure to secondhand smoke may also test positive, and levels may be between 0.5 and 10 ng/mL.

How long will traces of nicotine be present in your blood and saliva?

Nicotine exposure using cotinine as a marker may be measured in your blood and saliva.

However, concentrations of cotinine are generally lower in saliva and blood than in urine. The amount of cotinine in your saliva or blood may reach undetectable levels more quickly than in urine.

The exact length of time you can detect cotinine in your blood may vary depending on your genetic makeup and the amount of nicotine that you were exposed to.

Blood tests may also be less sensitive than urine tests. This could lead to false negatives or positives.

Nicotine blood tests can tell you whether or not nicotine is present (qualitative) and how much nicotine is present (quantitative).

Tests may also look for another breakdown product called anabasine.

How long do traces of nicotine stay in your hair follicles?

Traces of nicotine can generally be found in your hair follicles for up to weeks, months, or even years after your last exposure, according to a 2021 review.

This can depend on the hair test administered as well as genetic factors.

However, the review authors suggest that hair testing results may not correlate with blood testing. Hair testing may also show passive or environmental exposure to tobacco smoke.

Although hair testing is possible, it isn’t used as frequently as urine, saliva, or blood testing.

How can you clear nicotine from your body?

The best way to clear nicotine out of your system is to avoid tobacco or nicotine products.

If you smoke, vape, or use other nicotine products, consider cutting back or quitting. This way, cells in your body can focus on breaking down nicotine and removing it.

To help speed up this process, you can try:

Drink water: When you drink more water, more nicotine is released from your body through urine.
Exercise: This increases your body’s metabolism rate, which may lead you to clear nicotine faster.
Eat foods rich in antioxidants: Antioxidants can help boost your body’s metabolism rate. Options can include oranges and carrots.

Are there withdrawal effects as nicotine leaves your system?

Nicotine is the primary addictive component in vapes, cigarettes, and tobacco products.

Reducing your intake or abstaining entirely can cause symptoms of withdrawal, which can include intense cravings, irritability, and insomnia.

Your symptoms may be most intense in the first few hours after your last use and often lessen after the first 3 days.

Your individual symptoms and how long they last can depend on several factors, including how long and how often you use tobacco or nicotine products and how much you take daily.

Nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs), such as nicotine patches, can help ease withdrawal symptoms.

According to Smokefree.gov, which was created by the National Cancer Institute, using an NRT doubles your chances of quitting completely.

If you opt to use an NRT, you’ll still have detectable amounts of nicotine in your body.

Frequently asked questions

Why would someone need a nicotine test?

A person might need to take a nicotine test if their job or insurance provider requires it. It might also be part of a smoking cessation plan.

How do you flush nicotine out fast?

Staying hydrated and physically active can help boost your body’s metabolism, potentially clearing nicotine from your system faster. Eating antioxidant-rich foods may also help.

How long does a puff of nicotine stay in your system?

There isn’t a simple answer to this. It all depends on the tobacco or nicotine product used — whether you took a puff of a cigarette, spliff, cigar, or vape, for example.

A drug is considered eliminated from the body after 4 to 5 half-lives. If one cotinine half-life takes 16 to 40 hours, it stands to reason that the substance will be cleared from your system within 8 to 9 days.

Can your doctor tell if you vape?

A healthcare professional likely will not be able to tell whether you vape — or what you vape — unless they’re conducting specific tests.

During a physical exam, for example, your clinician may check your lung capacity. Vaping, much like smoking, can affect your overall lung health.

They may also ask you questions about your tobacco and nicotine use to help determine the underlying cause of reduced lung function or breathing changes.

Can doctors tell if you smoke from a blood test?

A healthcare professional won’t be able to tell if you smoke cigarettes or use other tobacco products via standard blood testing.

But if your clinician recommends testing specifically to check for nicotine use, they will be able to tell.

The bottom line

If you smoke, traces of nicotine can be found in your hair, blood, urine, and saliva. It can be detected in your urine for at least 3 days after your exposure to nicotine and in your hair for weeks or more.

The best way to remove nicotine from your body is to avoid tobacco products altogether.

How we reviewed this article:

SourcesHistoryHealthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Secondhand smoke exposure among nonsmoking adults: United States, 2015–2018. (2021).https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db396.htm
Gormsen J, et al. (2019). Cotinine test in evaluating smoking cessation at the day of bariatric surgery.https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1457496919866017
Handling nicotine withdrawal and triggers when you decide to quit tobacco. (2022).https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/tobacco/withdrawal-fact-sheet
Kawasaki Y, et al. (2020). Effects of smoking cessation on biological monitoring markers in urine.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7488543/
Marques H, et al. (2021). Recent developments in the determination of biomarkers of tobacco smoke exposure in biological specimens: A review.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7918937/
Nicotine and metabolites, random, urine. (n.d.). https://www.mayocliniclabs.com/test-catalog/overview/82510
Sandhu A, et al. (2023). Nicotine.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493148/
Using nicotine replacement therapy. (n.d.).https://smokefree.gov/tools-tips/how-to-quit/using-nicotine-replacement-therapy
What it means to be "nic-sick." (2019).https://www.lung.org/blog/nic-sick

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Medically reviewed by Alana Biggers, M.D., MPH — Written by Heather Hobbs — Updated on January 28, 2025

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