N-Nitrosodiethanolamine in synthetic cutting fluids: a part-per-hundred impurity.

N-nitrosodiethanolamine has been found to be present at a concentration of 0.02 to 3 percent in several brands of synthetic cutting fluids. Its identity was confirmed by three independent techniques: (i) by measuring the retention times on two different high-performance liquid-chromatography columns, (ii) by dehydration to N-nitrosomorpholine, and (iii) by preparation of the O-methyl ether derivative.