Rapid analysis of N-nitrosamines in urine using ultra high-pressure liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

N-Nitrosamines, carcinogenic compounds present in dietary and environmental sources and formed endogenously, are believed to be linked with the presence of nitrate and nitrite, both within dietary sources and after intake. To fully evaluate this potential threat to human health, an accurate analytical method to measure N-nitrosamines in biological matrices is necessary. We report a simple, fast, selective mass spectrometry method to detect N-nitrosamines in human urine. Analysis of seven N-nitrosamines, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), N-nitrosomethylethylamine (NMEA), N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA), N-nitrosopiperdine (NPIP), N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR), N-nitrosodi-N-propylamine (NDPA) and N-nitrosodi-N-butylamine (NDBA) in urine was quantitated using Ultra High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography-tandem Mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). A Sorbent supported Liquid Extraction (SLE) method was employed to extract N-nitrosamines from 24 hour collected human urine samples. The percent recovery varied between 74.3 to 110 and the limit of detection and limit of quantification ranged from 0.1 to 0.85 ng mL⁻¹ and 0.22 to 2.06 ng mL⁻¹ respectively. Precision for inter-day and intra-day assay yielded a % coefficient of variation between 4-10% for all measured compounds in urine. Linear regression analysis of calibration curves for N-nitrosamines measured in urine in the concentration range 0.4-12.8 ng mL⁻¹ gave correlation coefficients, R² 0.9874-0.9962. Urinary excretion of N-nitrosamines measured in ten healthy subjects resulted in detection of most of the N-nitrosamines including NDMA, NDEA, NPYR, NDPA and NDBA by this method.