Intranasal Spray Calculator

mcg per Spray

0.2000 mg per actuation

Sprays per Dose

≈ 3 actuations

Sprays per Bottle

Total actuations available

Total Doses

Full doses per bottle

Concentration

2.00 mg/ml

Total Volume

Contains 10,000 mcg total

BHG Labs offers lab-tested atomized nasal sprays with metered-dose pumps — no reconstitution needed. Independent vendor; we may earn a commission.

The standard nasal spray pump volume per actuation is 0.1 ml (100 µl). This is the industry-standard delivery volume used by most pharmaceutical-grade metered-dose nasal spray devices, including those from Aptar, Nemera, and other major pump manufacturers.

Metered-dose nasal spray pumps use a mechanical piston system that delivers a precise, reproducible volume with each actuation — typically within ±5% of the rated output.

Some specialty nasal spray devices deliver different volumes per actuation:

• Standard metered-dose pumps: 0.1 ml (100 µl) — most common
• Low-volume pumps: 0.05 ml (50 µl) — for highly concentrated formulations
• High-volume pumps: 0.14 ml (140 µl) — less common, for dilute solutions
• Squeeze bottles: Variable (0.05–0.20 ml) — not recommended for precise dosing

For research compound dosing, use a metered-dose pump and calibrate your bottle using the method above for accurate mcg-per-spray values.

Intranasal delivery sends a peptide through the nasal lining instead of the bloodstream or gut. Part of the dose takes a direct nose-to-brain route along the olfactory and trigeminal nerves, which run from the upper nasal cavity straight into the central nervous system. This path partially bypasses the blood-brain barrier, the tight cellular wall that blocks most large molecules from entering the brain. It also skips first-pass liver metabolism that breaks peptides down after oral dosing.

Two molecular properties decide whether a peptide is a good nasal candidate. Molecular size matters because small molecules cross the nasal mucosa more easily than large ones. Lipophilicity matters because the mucosal membrane is fatty, so more lipophilic peptides slip through faster than highly water-soluble ones. This is why short central-acting peptides like Semax, Selank, and Oxytocin are the most common intranasal targets, while large or strongly hydrophilic molecules are usually injected instead.

The dosing math the calculator uses is two steps:

• mcg per spray = concentration × spray volume. Concentration is total compound mass divided by total liquid volume. A standard metered pump sprays 0.1 ml per actuation.
• Sprays per dose = desired dose ÷ mcg per spray. Round up to whole sprays, then split across both nostrils.

Worked example 1 — Selank

Dissolve 30 mg of Selank in 3 ml of saline. Concentration is 30,000 mcg ÷ 3 ml = 10,000 mcg/ml. At a 0.1 ml pump, each spray delivers 10,000 × 0.1 = 1,000 mcg (1 mg) per spray. A 1,000 mcg dose is therefore 1 spray. The 3 ml bottle holds 30 sprays, so about 30 doses.

Worked example 2 — Oxytocin

Dissolve 5 mg of Oxytocin in 5 ml. Concentration is 5,000 mcg ÷ 5 ml = 1,000 mcg/ml. At 0.1 ml per spray that is 100 mcg per spray. For a 50 mcg dose you need 0.5 of a spray, which rounds to 1 spray in practice — a case where a lower-concentration fill (e.g. 5 mg in 10 ml) gives finer dose control. Use the calculator above to find the fill volume that lands your target dose on whole sprays.

Intranasal pharmacology summarized from peer-reviewed reviews of nose-to-brain peptide delivery (Alabsi et al., Pharmaceutics 2022; Bonferoni et al., Pharmaceutics 2019). For research and educational use; not medical advice.