On the basis of anthropological pilot studies on diet in Tunisia, south China and Greenland, food items consumed frequently by these populations at high risk for NPC were analysed for volatile nitrosamines using gas chromatography combined with a thermal energy analyzer. Relatively high levels of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR) and N-nitrosopiperidine (NPIP) were detected in Tunisian stewing base ("Touklia") and dried mutton preserved in olive oil ("Qaddid"). NDMA was also detected at levels ranging from trace amounts to 133 micrograms/kg in several Chinese salted and dried marine fish and in Greenland dried, unsalted fish preparations. NPYR and NPIP were also occasionally detected in several vegetables fermented in brine collected in Tunisia and China. The possible role of nitrosamines in the etiology of NPC is discussed.

A procedure for the determination of total N-nitroso compounds (NOC) in human gastric juice was developed by modifying earlier methods. The gastric juice sample, treated with sulphamic acid to remove nitrite, is injected directly into refluxing ethyl acetate containing either acetic acid for determining thermo-and acetic acid labile thermal energy analyser (TEA) responsive compounds (TAC), or into hydrogen bromide for the determination of TAC and NOC. The nitric oxide (NO) levels released are measured using thermal energy analysis with chemiluminescence detection, and the difference between the two determinations represents the concentrations of NOC in gastric juice. This method is not affected by nitrate concentrations of up to 1000 pmol I-'.The method was found to be rapid, reproducible and sensitive (detection limit 0.02 ymol I-' NOC), requiring only small volumes of gastric juice and no prior extraction. Because the difficulties arising from the system response to the denitrosating agent and variability of NO release by acetic acid from nitrite were eliminated, this improved method can more accurately distinguish NOC from most other TEA-responsive species. Suitable techniques for stabilising gastric juice samples from duodenal ulcer and atrophic gastritis patients and the influence of the time and storage conditions on NOC concentrations have been studied.

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The cigarettes studied are smoked through an automatic device. The mainstream smoke is trapped in Citrate-Phosphate buffer pH 4.5 containing 20 mM ascorbic acid. The volatile nitrosamines are extracted in dichloromethane, purified on alumina column, then analysed by gas-chromatography with a thermal energy analyzer (TEA) detector. The two main volatile nitrosamines quantified are: Nitrosodimethylamine and Nitrosopyrrolidine.