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PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

n-NITROSODIMETHYLAMINE 

CAS#: 62-75-0 

Division of Toxicology December 1989 

This Public Health Statement is the summary 

chapter from the Toxicological Profile for nNitrosodimethylamine. It is one in a series of Public 

Health Statements about hazardous substances and 

their health effects. A shorter version, the 

ToxFAQsTM, is also available. This information is 

important because this substance may harm you. 

The effects of exposure to any hazardous substance 

depend on the dose, the duration, how you are 

exposed, personal traits and habits, and whether 

other chemicals are present. For more information, 

call the ATSDR Information Center at 1-888-422-

8737. 

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1.1 WHAT IS n-NITROSODIMETHYLAMINE? 

n-Nitrosodimethylamine is commonly known as 

NDMA. It is a yellow liquid which has no distinct 

odor. It is produced in the US only for use as a 

research chemical. NDMA was used to make 

rocket fuel, but this use was stopped after unusually 

high levels of this compound were found in air, 

water, and soil samples collected near a rocket fuel 

manufacturing plant. NDMA is, however, 

unintentionally formed during various 

manufacturing processes at many industrial sites 

and in air, water and soil from reactions involving 

other chemicals called alkylamines. Alkylamines 

are both natural and man-made compounds which 

are found widely distributed throughout the 

environment. 

NDMA does not persist in the environment. When 

NDMA is released into the atmosphere, it breaks 

down in sunlight in a matter of minutes. When 

released to soil surfaces, NDMA may evaporate into 

air, break down upon exposure to sunlight, or sink 

into deeper soil. NDMA should break down within 

a few months in deep soil. When NDMA is 

released into water, it may break down upon 

exposure to sunlight or break down by natural 

biological processes. The rate of breakdown in 

water is not known. 

1.2 HOW MIGHT I BE EXPOSED TO nNITROSODIMETHYLAMINE? 

Information suggests that the general population 

may be exposed to NDMA from a wide variety of 

sources, including environmental, consumer, and 

occupational sources. At this time, NDMA has 

been found in at least 1 out of 1177 hazardous waste 

sites on the National Priorities List (NPL) in the US. 

Under certain conditions, NDMA may be found in 

outdoor air, surface waters (rivers and lakes, for 

example), and soil. 

The primary sources of human exposure to NDMA 

are tobacco smoke, chewing tobacco, diet (cured 

meats [particularly bacon], beer, fish, cheese, and 

other food items), toiletry and cosmetic products 

(for example, shampoos and cleansers), interior air 

of cars, and various other household goods, such as 

detergents and pesticides. In addition, NDMA can 

form in the stomach during digestion of alkylaminecontaining foods. Alkylamines are naturally 

occurring compounds which are found in some 

drugs and in a variety of foods. 

Infants may be exposed to NDMA from the use of 

rubber baby bottle nipples and pacifiers which may 

contain very small amounts of NDMA, from 

ingestion of contaminated infant formulas, and from 

breast milk of some nursing mothers. Very low 

levels of NDMA have been found in some samples 

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service
 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 
 

 

 

 

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PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

n-NITROSODIMETHYLAMINE 

CAS#: 62-75-0 

Division of Toxicology December 1989 

of human breast milk. 

Occupational exposure may happen in a large 

number of places including industries such as 

tanneries, pesticide manufacturing plants, rubber 

and tire manufacturing plants, alkylamine 

manufacture/use industries, fish processing 

industries, foundries, and dye manufacturing plants. 

Researchers making or handling NDMA may also 

be exposed to this compound if it passes through the 

rubber gloves they wear during laboratory work. 

NDMA has been found in groundwater samples, in 

amounts of 10 parts NDMA per billion parts of 

water, at one or more hazardous waste sites on the 

National Priorities List (NPL). No information is 

available about contamination of soil, drinking 

water, irrigation water, sewers, storm drains, or the 

human food chain with NDMA near NPL sites. 

1.3 HOW CAN n-NITROSODIMETHYLAMINE 

ENTER AND LEAVE MY BODY? 

NDMA can enter the body when a person breathes 

air that contains NDMA or when a person eats food 

or drinks water contaminated with NDMA. NDMA 

can also enter the body through the skin after 

contact with rubber articles that contain NDMA. 

Experiments in animals have shown that after being 

given by mouth, NDMA enters the bloodstream and 

goes to many organs of the body in a matter of 

minutes. In the liver, NDMA is broken down into 

other substances, most of which leave the body 

within 24 hours in air exhaled from the lungs and in 

urine, along with the NDMA that is not broken 

down. Little is known about what happens to 

NDMA that enters the body through the skin or 

through contaminated air. Although vapors of 

NDMA are broken down within minutes after 

exposure to sunlight, if NDMA is spilled at a waste 

site and evaporates, a person nearby can be exposed 

to NDMA before it disappears from the air. The 

most important and probably the most harmful way 

of coming into contact with NDMA seems to be by 

eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated 

water. 

1.4 HOW CAN n-NITROSODIMETHYLAMINE 

AFFECT MY HEALTH? 

NDMA is very harmful to the liver of animals and 

humans. People who were intentionally poisoned 

on one or several occasions with unknown levels of 

NDMA in beverage or food died of severe liver 

damage accompanied by internal bleeding. 

Animals that ate food, drank water, or breathed air 

containing high levels of NDMA over a period of 

days or several weeks also developed serious, noncancerous, liver disease. When rats, mice, 

hamsters, and other animals ate food, drank water, 

or breathed air containing lower levels of NDMA 

for periods more than several weeks, liver cancer 

and lung cancer as well as non-cancerous liver 

damage occurred. The high level short-term and 

low level long-term exposures that caused noncancerous liver damage and/or cancer in animals 

also usually resulted in internal bleeding and death. 

Although there are no reports of NDMA causing 

cancer in humans, it is reasonable to expect that 

exposure to NDMA by eating, drinking, or 

breathing could cause cancer in humans. Mice that 

were fed NDMA during pregnancy had offspring 

that were born dead or died shortly after birth. 

However, it is not known whether NDMA could 

cause the death of human babies whose mothers are 

exposed during pregnancy. It should be realized 

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service
 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 
 

 

 

 

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PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

n-NITROSODIMETHYLAMINE 

CAS#: 62-75-0 

Division of Toxicology December 1989 

that exposure to NDMA does not mean that any 

effect on health will definitely occur. 

1.5 IS THERE A MEDICAL TEST TO 

DETERMINE WHETHER I HAVE BEEN 

EXPOSED TO nNITROSODIMETHYLAMINE? 

The presence of NDMA can be detected in blood 

and urine by a test, but this test is not usually 

available and has not been used as a test for human 

exposure or to predict possible health effects. 

1.6 WHAT LEVELS OF EXPOSURE HAVE 

RESULTED IN HARMFUL HEALTH 

EFFECTS? 

The levels of NDMA in air, water, or food that 

result in health effects in people are unknown. 

Short-term expose of animals to air containing 

levels of 16 parts per million (ppm) NDMA 

produces liver damage and death. Toxic effects of 

long-term exposure of animals to air containing 

NDMA are unknown. Short-term or long-term 

exposure of animals to water or food containing 

NDMA is also associated with serious effects, such 

as liver disease and death, at levels ranging from 5 

to 50 ppm in water and 5 to 100 ppm in food. 

1.7 WHAT RECOMMENDATIONS HAS THE 

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MADE TO 

PROTECT HUMAN HEALTH? 

The EPA recommends that levels in lakes and 

streams should be limited to 0.00069 parts of nNitrosodimethylamine per billion parts of water 

(0.00069 ppb) to prevent possible health effects 

from drinking water or eating fish contaminated 

with n-Nitrosodimethylamine. 

The EPA requires that spills or accidental releases 

of 10 pounds or more of n-Nitrosodimethylamine be 

reported to the EPA. 

The federal recommendations have been updated as 

of July 1999. 

1.8 WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION? 

If you have any more questions or concerns, please 

contact your community or state health or 

environmental quality department or: 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

Division of Toxicology 

1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop F-32 

Atlanta, GA 30333 

Information line and technical assistance: 

Phone: 888-422-8737 

FAX: (770)-488-4178 

ATSDR can also tell you the location of 

occupational and environmental health clinics. 

These clinics specialize in recognizing, evaluating, 

and treating illnesses resulting from exposure to 

hazardous substances. 

To order toxicological profiles, contact: 

National Technical Information Service 

5285 Port Royal Road 

Springfield, VA 22161 

Phone: 800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000 

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service
 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 
 

 

 

 

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PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

n-NITROSODIMETHYLAMINE 

CAS#: 62-75-0 

Division of Toxicology December 1989 

Reference 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

(ATSDR). 1989. Toxicological profile for nNitrosodimethylamine. Atlanta, GA: U.S. 

Department of Health and Human Services, Public 

Health Service. 

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service
 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov