Conventional municipal wastewater treatment processes do not efficiently remove many pharmaceuticals and personal care product ingredients, and chemical disinfection of treated effluents leads to the production of disinfection byproducts. Use of reclaimed water for irrigation can expose food crops to these contaminants. Numerous studies have demonstrated that a variety of pharmaceuticals and personal care product ingredients can be taken up and accumulate in plant tissues. The accumulation of N-nitrosamines in plants, however, has received relatively little attention in the literature, and mechanisms of accumulation and in planta transformation of this class of compound are not well understood. We investigated the accumulation of the relatively non-volatile N-nitrosamine N-nitrosodiethanolamine in spinach (Spinacia oleracea). The presence of this compound in reclaimed water appears to derive from reaction of di- and triethanolamine constituents in personal care products with nitrosating agents. Prior reports of microsomal transformation of N-nitrosodiethanolamine lead to the expectation that cytochromes P450 may contribute to its transformation in planta. We exposed hydroponically grown spinach to N-nitrosodiethanolamine, quantified uptake from solution, in planta transformation, and accumulation in plant tissues.

Accumulation of N-nitrosodiethanolamine in spinach

2019 Fall National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.