Occurrence and Source
of Nitrosamines and Secondary
Amines in Groundwater and its Adjacent Jialu River Basin, China
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Abstract
The presence of mutagenic and carcinogenic nitrosamines
in groundwater
is of great concern. In this study, eight nitrosamines including <i>N</i>-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), <i>N</i>-nitrosodiethylamine
(NDEA), <i>N</i>-nitrosomethylethylamine (NMEA), <i>N</i>-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR), <i>N</i>-nitrosomorpholine
(NMOR), <i>N</i>-nitrosopiperidine (NPIP), <i>N</i>-nitrosodi-n-propylamine (NDPA), and <i>N</i>-nitrosodi-n-butylamine
(NDBA) and corresponding secondary amines were investigated in shallow
groundwater, river water, and wastewater samples collected from the
Jialu River basin. The total concentrations of nitrosamines and secondary
amines in groundwater were ND–101.1 ng/L and 0.36–4.38
μg/L, respectively. NDMA and its secondary amine DMA (44.7%/40.1%)
were the predominant compounds in groundwater, followed by NDEA/DEA
(21.7%/29.3%) and NDBA/DBA (26.4%/27.4%). Relatively high concentrations
of these six compounds were also observed in river water that was
influenced by the direct discharge of industrial and domestic wastewater.
Using acesulfame as a quantitative population marker, the contribution
of domestic sources to the concentrations of nitrosamines and secondary
amines was 39–85% in downstream reaches of the Jialu River,
and that of industrial sources was estimated to be 65–98% in
other sites of the area. Both on-site leakage of domestic and industrial
wastewater and leaching from river water would contribute to the occurrence
of target pollutants in groundwater. The target pollutants posed a
cancer risk of 4.12 × 10<sup>–5</sup> to the local populations
due to the direct usage of groundwater as potable water