Ammonium nitrate a possible source.

• Position: Carcinogens - Brief Article

Farmers use ammonium nitrate as a crop fertilizer and plants produce it to use as an energy source in the absence of light. The problem is that nitrate could be responsible for starting a chain of events in the body that leads to the formation of cancer-causing agents, according to Richard Loeppky, professor of chemistry, University of Missouri-Columbia. When nitrate is ingested, either through eating or drinking contaminated water, it is transferred into the bloodstream through normal digestive processes. Some of the nitrate then is transported to the salivary glands where bacteria transform it into nitrite. The nitrite is swallowed into the stomach again where it bonds with amino acids that are not combined with any particular protein. At this point, nitrolic acid is formed. This newly identified compound has properties that could lead to the formation of cancer in various areas of the body.

"The stomach is an ideal reactor for the...