1.1 What is n-Nitrosodimethylamine? |
1.2 How might I be exposed to n-Nitrosodimethylamine? |
1.3 How can n-Nitrosodimethylamine
enter and leave my body? |
1.4 How can n-Nitrosodimethylamine
affect my health? |
1.5 Is there a medical test to determine
whether I have been exposed to n-Nitrosodimethylamine? |
1.6 What levels of exposure have resulted
in harmful health effects? |
1.7 What recommendations has the federal
government made to protect human health? |
1.8 Where can I get more information? |
References |
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December 1989 |
Public Health Statement |
for |
n-Nitrosodimethylamine |
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This Public Health Statement is the
summary chapter from the Toxicological
Profile for n-nitrosodimethylamine. It is one in
a series of Public Health Statements about hazardous substances
and their health effects. A shorter version, the ToxFAQs™,
is also available. This information is important because this
substance may harm you. The effects of exposure to any hazardous
substance depend on the dose, the duration, how you are exposed,
personal traits and habits, and whether other chemicals are
present. For more information, call the ATSDR Information
Center at 1-888-422-8737.
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1.1
What is n-Nitrosodimethylamine? |
n-Nitrosodimethylamine is commonly
known as NDMA. It is a yellow liquid which has no distinct
odor. It is produced in the US only for use as a research
chemical. NDMA was used to make rocket fuel, but this
use was stopped after unusually high levels of this compound
were found in air, water, and soil samples collected near
a rocket fuel manufacturing plant. NDMA is, however,
unintentionally formed during various manufacturing processes
at many industrial sites and in air, water and soil from reactions
involving other chemicals called alkylamines. Alkylamines
are both natural and man-made compounds which are found widely
distributed throughout the environment.
NDMA does not persist in the environment.
When NDMA is released into the atmosphere, it breaks down
in sunlight in a matter of minutes. When released to
soil surfaces, NDMA may evaporate into air, break down upon
exposure to sunlight, or sink into deeper soil. NDMA
should break down within a few months in deep soil.
When NDMA is released into water, it may break down upon exposure
to sunlight or break down by natural biological processes.
The rate of breakdown in water is not known.
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1.2
How might I be exposed to n-Nitrosodimethylamine? |
Information suggests that the general
population may be exposed to NDMA from a wide variety of sources,
including environmental, consumer, and occupational sources.
At this time, NDMA has been found in at least 1 out of 1177
hazardous waste sites on the National Priorities List (NPL)
in the US. Under certain conditions, NDMA may be found
in outdoor air, surface waters (rivers and lakes, for example),
and soil.
The primary sources of human exposure
to NDMA are tobacco smoke, chewing tobacco, diet (cured meats
[particularly bacon], beer, fish, cheese, and other food items),
toiletry and cosmetic products (for example, shampoos and
cleansers), interior air of cars, and various other household
goods, such as detergents and pesticides. In addition,
NDMA can form in the stomach during digestion of alkylamine-containing
foods. Alkylamines are naturally occurring compounds
which are found in some drugs and in a variety of foods.
Infants may be exposed to NDMA from the
use of rubber baby bottle nipples and pacifiers which may
contain very small amounts of NDMA, from ingestion of contaminated
infant formulas, and from breast milk of some nursing mothers.
Very low levels of NDMA have been found in some samples of
human breast milk.
Occupational exposure may happen in a
large number of places including industries such as tanneries,
pesticide manufacturing plants, rubber and tire manufacturing
plants, alkylamine manufacture/use industries, fish processing
industries, foundries, and dye manufacturing plants.
Researchers making or handling NDMA may also be exposed to
this compound if it passes through the rubber gloves they
wear during laboratory work. NDMA has been found in
groundwater samples, in amounts of 10 parts NDMA per billion
parts of water, at one or more hazardous waste sites on the
National Priorities List (NPL). No information is available
about contamination of soil, drinking water, irrigation water,
sewers, storm drains, or the human food chain with NDMA near
NPL sites.
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1.3
How can n-Nitrosodimethylamine enter and leave my body? |
NDMA can enter the body when a person
breathes air that contains NDMA or when a person eats food
or drinks water contaminated with NDMA. NDMA can also
enter the body through the skin after contact with rubber
articles that contain NDMA. Experiments in animals have
shown that after being given by mouth, NDMA enters the bloodstream
and goes to many organs of the body in a matter of minutes.
In the liver, NDMA is broken down into other substances, most
of which leave the body within 24 hours in air exhaled from
the lungs and in urine, along with the NDMA that is not broken
down. Little is known about what happens to NDMA that
enters the body through the skin or through contaminated air.
Although vapors of NDMA are broken down within minutes after
exposure to sunlight, if NDMA is spilled at a waste site and
evaporates, a person nearby can be exposed to NDMA before
it disappears from the air. The most important and probably
the most harmful way of coming into contact with NDMA seems
to be by eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated
water.
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1.4
How can n-Nitrosodimethylamine affect my health? |
NDMA is very harmful to the liver of
animals and humans. People who were intentionally poisoned
on one or several occasions with unknown levels of NDMA in
beverage or food died of severe liver damage accompanied by
internal bleeding. Animals that ate food, drank water,
or breathed air containing high levels of NDMA over a period
of days or several weeks also developed serious, non-cancerous,
liver disease. When rats, mice, hamsters, and other
animals ate food, drank water, or breathed air containing
lower levels of NDMA for periods more than several weeks,
liver cancer and lung cancer as well as non-cancerous liver
damage occurred. The high level short-term and low level
long-term exposures that caused non-cancerous liver damage
and/or cancer in animals also usually resulted in internal
bleeding and death.
Although there are no reports of NDMA
causing cancer in humans, it is reasonable to expect that
exposure to NDMA by eating, drinking, or breathing could cause
cancer in humans. Mice that were fed NDMA during pregnancy
had offspring that were born dead or died shortly after birth.
However, it is not known whether NDMA could cause the death
of human babies whose mothers are exposed during pregnancy.
It should be realized that exposure to NDMA does not mean
that any effect on health will definitely occur.
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1.5
Is there a medical test to determine whether I have been exposed
to n-Nitrosodimethylamine? |
The presence of NDMA can be detected
in blood and urine by a test, but this test is not usually
available and has not been used as a test for human exposure
or to predict possible health effects.
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1.6
What levels of exposure have resulted in harmful health effects? |
The levels of NDMA in air, water, or
food that result in health effects in people are unknown.
Short-term expose of animals to air containing levels of 16
parts per million (ppm) NDMA produces liver damage and death.
Toxic effects of long-term exposure of animals to air containing
NDMA are unknown. Short-term or long-term exposure of animals
to water or food containing NDMA is also associated with serious
effects, such as liver disease and death, at levels ranging
from 5 to 50 ppm in water and 5 to 100 ppm in food.
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1.7
What recommendations has the federal government made to protect
human health? |
The EPA recommends that levels in lakes
and streams should be limited to 0.00069 parts of n-Nitrosodimethylamine
per billion parts of water (0.00069 ppb) to prevent possible
health effects from drinking water or eating fish contaminated
with n-Nitrosodimethylamine.
The EPA requires that spills or accidental
releases of 10 pounds or more of n-Nitrosodimethylamine
be reported to the EPA.
The federal recommendations have been
updated as of July 1999.
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1.8 Where can I get more information? |
If you have any more questions or concerns, please contact
your community or state health or environmental quality department or:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Division of Toxicology
1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop F-32
Atlanta, GA 30333
Information line and technical assistance:
Phone: 888-422-8737
FAX: (770)-488-4178
ATSDR can also tell you the location of occupational and environmental health
clinics. These clinics specialize in recognizing, evaluating, and treating illnesses
resulting from exposure to hazardous substances.
To order toxicological profiles, contact:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Phone: 800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000
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References |
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry (ATSDR). 1989. Toxicological
profile for n-Nitrosodimethylamine. Atlanta, GA:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health
Service.
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