Further evidence of a positive correlation between exposure to nitrate fertilizers (NaNO3 and KNO3) and gastric cancer death rates: nitrites and nitrosamines.

Mean age-adjusted death rates for gastric cancer in Chile for 1960, 1962 and 1964 were associated with exposure to sodium nitrate and nitrates (NaNO3 and KNO3) used as fertilizers, by province. The general population exposure to NaNO3 and nitrates exhibited correlation coefficients of 0.745 and 0.718 with the death rates, respectively.