Tumorigenic agents in unburned processed tobacco: N-nitrosodiethanolamine and 1,1-dimethylhydrazine

Two tumorigenic agents, N-nitrosodiethanolamine and 1,1-dimethylhydrazine, have been isolated from tobacco for the first time. The former, a reportedly weak hepatic carcinogen in rats, varied in amounts from a low of 0.1 ppb in flue-cured tobacco not treated with the herbicide MH-30, to a high of 173 ppb in Burley tobacco to which the herbicide had been applied prior to harvesting. MH-30 (maleic hydrazide) used by farmers to remove 'suckers' from tobacco plants, is commonly formulated as the diethanolamine salt. 1,1-Dimethylhydrazine, reported to induce tumors in mice, ranged in amounts from 60 to 147 ppb, except in the case of Burley tobacco where none was detected (detection limit: 0.1 ng). The source of the nitrosamine in the tobacco appears to be the MH-30, whereas that of dimethylhydrazine has not been determined.