Volatile N-nitrosamines in salted fish samples from high- and low-risk areas for NPC in China

Four carcinogenic volatile nitrosamines (N-dimethylnitrosamine, NDMA; N-diethylnitrosamine, NDEA; N-nitrosopyrroline, NPYR; and N-nirosopiperilidine, NPIP) were screened in twenty specimens of salted fish collected from areas in China with different nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) mortality rates. The highest NDMA, NDEA and total N-nitrosamine contents (322.92, 50.27 and 373.19 micrograms/kg, respectively) were found in the samples from Sihui, one of the areas with highest NPC mortality. The lowest contents (12.64, 7.65 and 20.29 micrograms/kg, respectively) were seen in the samples from Shanghai, the area with the lowest mortality from NPC in the study. These results confirm that there are appreciable levels of nitrosamines in the salted fishes consumed by residents in high-risk areas of NPC in China.