Abstract
MANY nitrosamines are carcinogenic1 and can be formed by the interaction of nitrite with primary2, secondary3 or tertiary amines4, or even quaternary ammonium salts5. Foods contain many amines, and in cured meats sodium nitrite provides the other precursor for the potential formation of nitrosamines. Some strains of bacteria reduce nitrate to nitrite, so that nitrate in conjunction with the appropriate amine could also lead to nitrosamine formation6. There have been several studies in which cured meats and a few other foods have been examined for nitrosamines, although most of these have been restricted to the detection of the volatile dialkyl and simple heterocyclic compounds7. Combined gas chromatography and mass spectrometry is the most reliable method, and has a typical detection limit of 1 µg per kg of food for volatile nitrosamines. More recently, the chemiluminescent detection of nitrosamines has enabled much lower concentrations to be measured8. We have carried out a survey of foods commonly encountered in the UK, using mass spectrometry9 and chemiluminescence, and we now summarise our data to assess the intake of volatile nitrosamines from these foods.
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GOUGH, T., WEBB, K. & COLEMAN, R. Estimate of the volatile nitrosamine content of UK food. Nature 272, 161–163 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/272161a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/272161a0
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