Nicotine and Cotinine, Serum




Test Mnemonic

NICOT

CPT Codes

  • G0480 - QTY (1)
  • 80323 - QTY (1)

LOINC ®

Panel: 90226-2 Nic:3853-9 and Cot:10365-5

Includes

  • Nicotine
  • Cotinine

Performing Laboratory

Cleveland Clinic Laboratories


Specimen Requirements

Volume Type Container Collect Temperature Transport Temperature Special Instructions
1 mLSerumSST (Gold) Ambient 

Alternate Specimen Requirements

Volume Type Container Collect Temperature Transport Temperature Special Instructions
1 mLSerumNo additive (Red) Ambient 

Minimum Specimen Requirements

Volume Type Container Collect Temperature Transport Temperature Special Instructions
0.5 mL     

Stability

Environmental Condition Description
Ambient14 days
Refrigerated14 days
Frozen2 months

Days Performed

2 days per week

Turnaround Time

0 - 5 days

Methodology

Name Description
Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) 

Reference Range

Cotinine
Sex Age From Age To Type Range Range Unit
   Years99 YearsNormal< 2.0ng/mL
Nicotine
Sex Age From Age To Type Range Range Unit
   Years99 YearsNormal< 2.0ng/mL

Clinical Info

Active tobacco product user: Nicotine concentration: 30 ng/mL - 50 ng/mL; Cotinine concentration: 200 ng/mL - 800 ng/mL. Passive exposure to tobacco: Nicotine concentration: < 2 ng/mL; Cotinine concentration: < 8 ng/mL. Unexposed non-tobacco user or Abstinent user for > 2 weeks: Nicotine concentration: < 2 ng/mL; Cotinine concentration: < 2 ng/mL.