Analysis for volatile nitrosamines in salt-preserved foodstuffs traditionally consumed by southern Chinese

Six types of salted fish and 10 other sorts of salted food products traditionally consumed by southern Chinese were analysed by GC-MS for the presence of volatile nitrosamines. The detection limit in the original raw food was 1 microg/kg for each nitrosamine. Only NDMA, in the range of 1-35 microg/kg, could be detected, in four of the six types of salted fish samples examined; and no nitrosamines were found in the other salted food products.