NDMA attracting international attention: the latest news on nitrosamines

Abstract

N-nitrosodimethylamine (NOMA), and nitrosamines in general, are attracting increasing worldwide attention. While Australia has now established a guideline for NOMA, other countries such as New Zealand, the US, Canada and the European Union, are still deciding the most appropriate concentration of this disinfection by-product to allow in drinking water, and whether to include other nitrosamines in any ruling. Such intense interest brings an increase in knowledge, so the authors considered it timely to publish an update on the situation regarding nitrosamines in Australia and overseas. This paper complements similar topic reviews published in 2006 (Nicholson, 2006) and 2009 (Newcombe et al., 2009).