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Factors Affecting Dimethylnitrosamine Formation in Samples of Soil and Water¹

ABSTRACT

Dimethylnitrosamine was formed in samples of soil, municipal sewage, and lake water supplemented with 250 ppm of dimethylamine and 100 ppm of nitrite-N. The toxic compound was formed in similar quantities in soil and sewage samples sterilized by gamma radiation and in lake water sterilized by autoclaving. Nitrosation occurred in samples with a pH as high as 7.7, although nitrosamine was not formed in buffered solutions above pH 5.0. The amount of dimethylnitrosamine produced in soil at pH 5.2 was directly related to the amount of the precursors added to the soil. When the organic matter was partially removed from a sample of soil by treatment with peroxide, the amount of dimethylnitrosamine formed upon incubation with dimethylamine and nitrite decreased. No nitrosamine was produced from the precursors when the soil was freed of organic matter by ignition. Incubation of the ignited soil with glucose and an inoculum of microorganisms led to the formation of nonleachable organic matter and the return of the nitrosating capacity. The results show that nitrosamines may be produced in nonacid environments containing organic materials.

Key Words: amines • carcinogen • nitrosamines

¹ Contribution from the Dep. of Agron., New York State Coll. of Agric. and Life Sci., Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY 14853. Agron. Pap. No. 1152.

² Research Assistant and Professor, Dep. of Agron. Present address of senior author: Dep. of Microbiol., Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742.

Received for publication December 12, 1975.

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