Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Safety of Acrylamide. A Review

Acrylamide (CH2=CH-CONH2), an industrially produced alpha,beta-unsaturated (conjugated) reactive molecule, is used worldwide to synthesize polyacrylamide. Polyacrylamide has found numerous applications as a soil conditioner, in wastewater treatment, in the cosmetic, paper, and textile industries, and in the laboratory as a solid support for the separation of proteins by electrophoresis. Because of the potential of exposure to acrylamide, effects of acrylamide in cells, tissues, animals, and humans have been extensively studied. Reports that acrylamide is present in foods formed during their processing under conditions that also induce the formation of Maillard browning products heightened interest in the…