Definition of "nitrosamine" [nitrosamine]

• Any of a class of organic compounds with the general formula R2NNO or RNHNO, present in various foods and other products and found to be carcinogenic in laboratory animals. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "There are three carcinogenic ingredients in Johnson & Johnson's Baby Shampoo, dioxane, formaldehyde and nitrosamine."
• "The second ingredient, quaternium, is a precursor of two carcinogens, formaldehyde and nitrosamine."
• "Concerns on the cancer risks of talc, dioxane, formaldehyde, nitrosamine and ethylene oxide, besides other prohibited and restricted carcinogenic ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products, are not new."