INCREASED EXPOSURE TO DIETARY AMINES AND NITRATE IN A POPULATION AT HIGH-RISK OF ESOPHAGEAL AND GASTRIC-CANCER IN KASHMIR (INDIA)

Analytical data on aliphatic amines and nitrate from the most commonly used fresh and sun-dried vegetables, red chillies and a widely consumed beverage, salted tea, are presented from a high risk area for oesophageal and gastric cancer in Kashmir. Exposure estimates for the adult population show that high consumption of boiled Brassica vegetables leads to a high nitrate intake of 237 mg/day. The frequent consumption of hot salted tea is shown to result in exceptionally high exposure to methylamine (1200-mu-g/day), ethylamine (14 320-mu-g/day), dimethylamine (150-mu-g/day) and diethylamine (400-mu-g/day). The indiscriminate use of red chillies in the area leads to exposure to dimethylamine (280-mu-g/day), pyrrolidine (517-mu-g/day) and methylbenzylamine (40-mu-g/day). This is to our knowledge the first report where a chronic exposure to methylbenzylamine has been shown in a population at high risk of oesophageal cancer.