Toxicity of N-nitros Amines

                               

N -nitrosamines are aliphatic or aromatic derivatives of secondary amines, which have a nitroso (–NO) group attached to nitrogen. They are formed by the reaction of nitrite with secondary amines.  It was discovered that secondary amines present naturally in the fish had reacted with the nitrite to form NDMA, which had induced cancers in the livers of the mink. Human exposure to nitrosamines can result from formation of N‑nitroso compounds either in food during storage or preparation or in vivo, usually in the stomach. 

The toxicity of N -nitrosamines came to light in the mid-1950s when it was found that mink fed with herring meal that had been treated with nitrite were dying from liver disease.