In vivo formation of nitrosocarbamates in the stomach of rats and guinea pigs.

The N-nitrosocarbamates are potent mutagens and carcinogens, and have been synthesized under acid conditions that prevail in the human stomach. However, it has never been documented that nitrosocarbamates are actually formed in vivo in the stomach of any mammalian species. Using 14C-labeled carbaryl and carbofuran, attempts were made to isolate the nitroso derivatives from the stomach contents of rats and guinea pigs treated orally with the carbamate and sodium nitrite. Only trace quantities of nitrocarbamate were recovered from the rat stomach, whereas 0.5 to 2.0% of the carbamate doses were isolated as the nitroso derivative from the contents of the guinea pig stomach. The rather low apparent yields resulted in part from the instability of the nitrosocarbamates and from absorption of the carbamate and/or nitrosocarbamate from the stomach. Higher rates of synthesis were indicated by incubating the carbamates with sodium nitrite in the presence of the stomach contents at 37 degrees C for 15 min. About 30% nitrosation occurred with the guinea pig and about 0.5% with the rat. The difference was attributed to the pH of the gastric contents. For the rat, the pH ranged from 3 to 5; gastric contents of the guinea pig had a pH between 1 and 2. Since the pH of the human stomach is also in the pH 1-2 range, it is likely that nitrosation of carbamates in humans would be very similar to that in the guinea pig.