Induction of liver tumors in Wistar rats by sodium nitrite given in pellet diet

Sodium nitrate was given to male noninbred Wistar rats at levels of 800 ppm and 1,600 ppm in a pellet diet for 646 experimental days. The first tum or was found on day 441 in the liver of a rat given a diet containing 800 ppm sodium nitrite. On day 646, liver tumors were found in 1 of 22 rats (4.5%) on an 800-ppm sodium nitrite diet and in 5 of 19 rats (26.3%) on a 1,600-ppm sodium nitrite diet. The incidence of liver tumors in the rats fed 1,600 ppm sodium nitrite was significantly different from that in controls as judged by the t-test (P < 0.05). A hepatocellular carcinoma and a hemangioendothelial sarcoma of the liver were found on day 646 in 2 rats fed 1,600 ppm sodium nitrite. One mammary tumor but no liver tumors were found in the 19 control rats. The concentration of sodium nitrite decreased after preparation of the pellet diet, but it was still at least 70% of the initial amount when the pellets were given to the rats. Volatile N-nitroso compounds, especially dimehylnitrosamine, at ppm levels were detected in the pellet diet with a gas chromatography-thermal energy analyzer.