According to Wikipedia, nitrosamines are produced from nitrites and amines. Their formation require certain conditions like acidity such as occurs in the stomach or high temeratures. Nitrosamines can cause cancer in animals, and epidemiological data suggest that the nitrosamines in preserved food cause stomach cancer. Nitrosamines are found in beer and fish, and in meat and cheese that is preserved with nitrite pickling salt. The U.S. government has established limits on the amount of nitrites used in meat products in order to decrease cancer risk in the population. Nitrosamiens can be found also in tobacco smoke and latex products such as baloons and condoms.
In 2006 the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in Bilthoven, Netherlands (www.rivm.nl) conducted a nitrosamine study of artificial turf fields. Done for the benefit of the municipal health service of Gelderland, a province in the Netherlands, the study measured nitrosamines in the air above synthetic grass playing fields in order to ascertain if nitrosamines present in rubber granulate could pose a risk to players. Measurements were taken at heights of 30 and 100 cm above four soccer fields located in Arnhem. The study did not find evidence of nitrosamines in the air above the field. However, additional laboratory tests showed that nitrosamines could be set free from the material, but in small amounts.
Even though RIVM could conclude “nitrosamines do not pose a health risk to users of the synthetic turf fields,” SynTurf.org believes the matter may be far from closed. According to Wikipedia, test of party balloons and condoms have shown that many of them release small amounts of nitrosamines.
See M. van Bruggen, E.M. van Putten and P.J.C.M. Janssen, “Nitrosamines from rubber granulate,” Bilthoven, Netherlands: National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), RIVM Report 609300001/2006, June 23, 2006. The abstract of the RIVM Study is avalaible at http://www.rivm.nl/bibliotheek/rapporten/609300001.html. The report is available at http://www.rivm.nl/bibliotheek/rapporten/609300001.pdf.
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