Investigates the compound formation, bioactivation, and detoxification of the N-nitroso group of compounds, which increasingly appears to be implicated in human carcinogenesis. The topics include exposure, formation, and blocking; nitric oxide; nitrosamine; toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic effects; and reactive intermediates. The 45 papers largely report on research rather than review the literature. The symposium that occasioned them was in Washington, DC, in August 1992. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Meat has been treated for centuries with rock salt as a means of preservation. However, only one century has passed since the German researchers, Polenske in 1891, Kisshalt in 1899, and Lehmann in 1899, discovered that the active component in the curing process was nitrite. Soon after the role of nitrite as a meat curing agent was revealed, government regulators placed guidelines on the level of nitrite and nitrate permitted for use in cured meat formulations. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the development of the so-called "nitrite problem" surfaced because of the detection of N-nitrosamines in processed meats. The industry was in an uproar and the issue was of paramount interest to scientists and the public. A major technical advance in the analytical technique for N-nitrosamine detection was achieved when Thermo Electron of Waltham, Massachusetts introduced the thermal energy analyzer (TEA). This unit allowed the screening of a large number of samples for nitrosamine with only a minimum preparation. The role of nitrite in revealing the desired and unique flavor of cured products, perhaps by suppressing the formation of lipid oxidation products was another development in revealing other properties of nitrite. Above all, the antimicrobial role of nitrite, together with salt, had a major influence on the popularity of nitrite/nitrate in food preservation. This book provides a review of the desirable attributes which sodium nitrite confers to meat during processing, as well as drawbacks of nitrite usage, i.e., the presence of N-nitrosoamines. In addition, solutions for the curing of meat without the use of nitrite are presented. An examination of a multicomponent nitrite-free curing system entailing the color, flavor, and microbial protection of such a system is given.

Much of organic chemistry is based on the ability of suitably structured chemicals to bind together through the formation of covalent bonds. Biochemistry is replete with exam ples of enzymatically catalyzed reactions in which normal body constituents can be linked through covalent bonds during the process of intermediary metabolism. The finding that xenobiotic chemicals that enter the body from the environment, are metabolized to highly reactive species, and then covalently react with cellular macromolecules to induce toxic and carcinogenic effects was an observation that spawned the research featured in the Fifth International Symposium on Biological Reactive Intermediates (BRI V). The group of investigators that became fascinated with this process and its signifi cance in terms of human health began their discussions in Turku, Finland (J 975), and continued them at Guildford, England (1980), College Park, Maryland (1985), Tucson, Arizona (1990), and Munich, Germany (1995). Among the results were a series of reports listed below, as well as the book for which this serves as the Preface. • Jollow, DJ., Kocsis, J.J., Snyder, R. and Vainio, H. (eds), Biological Reactive Intermediates: Formation, Toxicity and Inactivation, Plenum Press, NY, 1975. • Snyder, R., Park, D.V., Kocsis, J.J., Jollow, D.V., Gibson, G.G. and Witmer, C.M. (eds), Biological Reactive Intermediates II: Chemical Mechanisms and Biological Effects, Plenum Press, N.Y., 1982.

This eighty-ninth volume of the IARC Monographs is the third and last of a series on tobacco-related agents. Volume 83 reported on the carcinogenicity of tobacco smoke and involuntary smoking (second-hand smoke or environmental tobacco smoke) (IARC 2004a). Volume 85 summarized the evidence on the carcinogenic risk of chewing betel quid with and without tobacco (IARC 2004b). That volume explored the variety of products chewed in South Asia and other parts of the word that contain areca nut in combination with other ingredients, often including tobacco. In this eighty-ninth volume, the carcinogenic risks associated with the use of smokeless tobacco, including chewing tobacco and snuff, are considered in a first monograph. The second monograph reviews some tobacco-specific nitrosamines. These agents were evaluated earlier in Volume 37 of the Monographs (IARC 1985) and information gathered since that time has been summarized and evaluated.

Organic compounds containing Nitrogen are of outstanding importance in biochemistry and in environmental systems. This volume gives a sound introduction into the physical chemistry of amino, nitroso, nitro and related functional groups.

Thoroughly updated to accommodate recent research and state-of-the-art technologies impacting the field, Volume 2: Residues and Other Food Component Analysis of this celebrated 3 volume reference compiles modern methods for the detection of residues in foods from pesticides, herbicides, antibacterials, food packaging, and other sources. Volume 2 evaluates methods for: establishing the presence of mycotoxins and phycotoxins identifying growth promoters and residual antibacterials tracking residues left by fungicides and herbicides discerning carbamate and urea pesticide residues confirming residual amounts of organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides detecting dioxin, polychlorobiphenyl (PCB), and dioxin-like PCB residues ascertaining n-nitroso compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons tracing metal contaminants in foodstuffs