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This compound is at the heart of why nitrates and nitrites are considered toxic. Nitrosamines are a carcinogen, or a cancer-causing substance. They are found everywhere in our environment,...
You should minimize or avoid sodium nitrate that is in processed meats because these can have chemical reactions in your body and produce toxic and carcinogenic substances. Instead, aim to get your nitrates from green leafy vegetables, and root vegetables.
Sodium nitrite is a powerful oxidizing agent that causes hypotension and limits oxygen transport and delivery in the body through the formation of methemoglobin. Clinical manifestations can include cyanosis, hypoxia, altered consciousness, dysrhythmias, and death.
Intoxication with high-dose sodium nitrate may cause only mild gastrointestinal symptoms, but more serious symptoms such as hypotension and cyanosis due to methaemoglobinaemia can occur (in the described case, those symptoms did not occur).
Sodium nitrite causes increased methemoglobin, resulting in systemic hypoxia, metabolic acidosis, and cyanosis. Since sodium nitrite is a preservative, the ingestion of foods containing an excessive amount of this substance can also cause acute intoxication up to death.
This Public Health Statement summarizes the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s (ATSDR) findings on inorganic nitrate and nitrite, including chemical characteristics, exposure risks, possible health effects from exposure, and ways to limit exposure.
Even though nitrates are vital to all plant and animal life, overexposure can lead to serious, negative health effects. Nitrates are converted into nitrites by bacteria in our saliva, stomach, and intestines, and it is primarily the nitrites that cause toxicity.
However, some research suggests that high levels can cause problems such as colorectal cancer. Other diseases such as leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, heart disease, and ovarian, stomach,...
Very high levels of sodium nitrite can kill you. Sodium nitrite can also harm you if you inhale it or if it’s soaked up through your skin. It can irritate your eyes, skin, nose, and throat.
The remainder of the nitrate in a typical diet comes from drinking water (about 21%) and from meat and meat products (about 6%) in which sodium nitrate is used as a preservative and color-enhancing agent [Alexander et al. 2010; Gilchrist et al. 2010; Lundberg et al. 2009; Lundberg et al. 2008; Norat et al. 2005; Chan 1996; Saito et al. 2000].