# Nicotine Vrs. Venom? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 1, 2005, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-vrs-venom/324339 "2005-10-01T15:15:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Belzer\_Minion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/0ea827/32.png) [@Belzer\_Minion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belzer_Minion)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-vrs-venom/324339/1 "2005-10-01T15:15:00Z")
I’ve heard that Nicotine is more powerful than cobra venom…is it true? “What are you sheep? Will you believe anything?”–Det. John Munch :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-vrs-venom/324339/2 "2005-10-01T15:17:06Z")
Define “powerful” and then we can talk. And which species of cobra? Cobra venom varies widely in both its effects and potency from one species to another. ---
**Author:** ![Belzer\_Minion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/0ea827/32.png) [@Belzer\_Minion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belzer_Minion)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-vrs-venom/324339/3 "2005-10-01T15:21:59Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > Define “powerful” and then we can talk. And which species of cobra? Cobra venom varies widely in both its effects and potency from one species to another. ``` Truth is...I don't know. I actually heard it on CSI:Miami. But a friend of mine doesn't believe it. Yes, I know anything can kill you in certain amounts, but I really am curios about this... ``` “What are you sheep? Will you believe anything?”–Det. John Munch :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-vrs-venom/324339/4 "2005-10-01T15:47:41Z")
Well, if we compare the LD50 for the Indian Cobra (the _de facto_ standard against which other snake venoms are measured), which is [.565 mg/kg](http://members.iinet.net.au/~bush/papers.html) IV in mice, against that for nicotine, [.81 mg/kg](http://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/msds/nicotine.htm) IV in mice, you can see that by this measure (not necessarily the best one, but I’m making assumptions here), cobra venom is about 1.4 times as potent as nicotine, at least as injected in mice. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-vrs-venom/324339/5 "2005-10-01T15:49:34Z")
**Nicotine** > [@](#): > > Human data: The fatal human dose has been estimated to be about **50 to 60 mg** [Lazutka et al. 1969]. [Note: An oral dose of 50 to 60 mg/kg is equivalent to a 70kg worker being exposed to about 30 to 40 mg/m3 for 30 minutes, assuming a breathing rate of 50 liters per minute and 100% absorption.] (Emphasis mine.) Source: [http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/idlh/54115.html](http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/idlh/54115.html) **Cobra Venom** > [@](#): > > A typical cobra carries 150 to 350 milligrams of venom in its glands. **A lethal dose for humans is 18 to 45 milligrams.** (Emphasis mine.) Source: [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi\_qa3775/is\_200306/ai\_n9300326](http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3775/is_200306/ai_n9300326) ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-vrs-venom/324339/6 "2005-10-01T15:55:41Z")
You are comparing apples and orange, **Ducky**. Two different routes of administration do not correlate to a comparable level of toxicity. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-vrs-venom/324339/7 "2005-10-01T21:36:33Z")
Well, nicotine is a primary ingredient in rat poison and cobra venom isn’t, but that may just be because nicotine’s cheaper 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nicotine-vrs-venom/324339/8 "2005-10-01T22:38:42Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Well, nicotine is a primary ingredient in rat poison and cobra venom isn’t, but that may just be because nicotine’s cheaper 😉 :dubious: Can you name a single nicotine-based rodenticide? Most are based on anticoagulants like warfarin or its more potent successors. Nictotine is commonly used as relatively safe insecticide, but I don’t imagine that it would be very effective for rodent control.