Gas Chromatographic Determination of N-Alkyl Nitrosamines

THE carcinogenicity, at very low concentrations, of many N-nitrosamines is well established1,2. There is a need for improved methods of specific sensitive and quantitative determination of these compounds in samples of interest. Polarographic methods3–6 are sensitive to rather less than one part per million but they lack specificity. Thin layer chromatography7–9 offers a measure of discrimination between N-nitrosamines, but the methods so far developed are not entirely satisfactory. A specific and sensitive gas chromatographic method for N-alkylnitrosamines is described below.