Nicotine

Patch 2: Nicotine patches

A nicotine patch is stuck to the skin, usually on the upper arm or the thigh. The patch releases nicotine molecules for a period of about 16 hours.

Nicotine patches vary in size and nicotine concentrations. There are patches of 30, 20 and 10 square centimetres, containing 15, 10 and 5 milligrams of nicotine. They release these molecules for about 16 hours, at a rate of about 0.01 milligrams a minute.

By comparison, while smoking a cigarette you absorb about 0.2 milligrams a minute, or about 20 times more.