Where It Comes From
Forms when amines and nitrite react; found in cured/smoked meats, beer, tobacco smoke, rubber/leather manufacturing; can form during chloraminated water treatment [1][2][4].
How You Are Exposed
Eating processed meats or beer; breathing tobacco smoke or some workplace air; drinking chloraminated water [1][2][4].
Why It Matters
Long‑term exposure raises cancer risk and can harm the liver [1][2][3].
Who Is at Risk
Smokers and people around smoke; workers in rubber/leather/metal‑working; heavy consumers of cured meats; people served by chloraminated systems where nitrosamines occur [1][2][3][4].
How to Lower Your Exposure
Don’t smoke; limit cured/smoked meats and high‑heat frying; check your water report; consider home treatment (activated carbon, reverse osmosis, or UV) and workplace controls/PPE [1][4].
References
- [1]WHO. N‑Nitrosamines in Drinking‑water: Background document for development of WHO Guidelines for Drinking‑water Quality. 2011.
- [2]IARC. Some N‑Nitroso Compounds. IARC Monographs Vol. 17 and Suppl. 7; classification of N‑nitrosopyrrolidine (Group 2B).
- [3]NTP. Report on Carcinogens, 15th Ed. N‑Nitrosopyrrolidine. 2021.
- [4]U.S. EPA. Technical Fact Sheet: NDMA and Other Nitrosamines; occurrence, formation during chloramination, and treatment.