Until the 1970s it was used to make rocket fuel, but was then discontinued because of the resulting environmental contamination. In the United States today, NDMA is only made for scientific research purposes. However, NDMA can be formed as a byproduct when its commonly found precursors come into contact with each other.
These scenarios where NDMA forms as a byproduct occur in industrial settings like water treatment plants, pesticide manufacturing facilities, and pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities. This can result in NDMA entering soil, drinking water, and air.
NDMA can also be formed from precursors found in common consumer products like lotion, cosmetics, beer, cured meat, and smoked meat. When we use these products, we can be exposed to the NDMA in them. Furthermore, foods like cured meat, smoked meat, fish, cheese, and beer are high in compounds called nitrates, which our bodies can convert into NDMA once we eat them. These kinds of consumer products are how most of the population is exposed to NDMA.
Exposure to NDMA can cause liver damage in humans. Workers exposed to NDMA in industrial settings had higher risks of liver, blood, bladder, stomach, and prostate cancers. Increased NDMA exposure through food is associated with stomach and colorectal cancers. In studies of laboratory animals, NDMA exposure
caused liver injury and stillbirth as well as liver, lung, kidney, and testicular cancers. Based on all of this evidence, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the International Agency for Research on Cancer both classify NDMA as a probable cancer-causing chemical in humans.
Because NDMA can be found in industrial settings and a wide variety of consumer products, it can be hard to know our exposure risk. This makes it particularly important for the federal government to regulate NDMA precursor chemicals in manufacturing, personal care products, and food preservation in order to keep people safe from the adverse health effects of exposure.
