AGFD 82 |
| Thirty percent of the calories consumed among US and European populations contain acrylamide, a substance classified as a “probable human carcinogen” based on laboratory data. Thus, it is a considerable public health concern to evaluate whether intake of acrylamide at levels found in the food supply is an important cancer risk factor. Mean dietary intake of acrylamide in adults averages 0.5 micrograms/kg body weight/day, and is higher among children. Our group has undertaken epidemiological studies examining dietary acrylamide and cancers of the colon, rectum, kidney, bladder, and breast. We found no association between high intake of foods containing acrylamide and risk of these cancers. The only other published epidemiological study to date, an Italian hospital-based case control study of several cancers similarly found no association. The epidemiological data contradict findings from animal feeding studies, where high doses of acrylamide led to increased rates of thyroid adenomas, testicular mesotheliomas, adenocarcinomas of the mammary gland and uterus, and central nervous system tumors in rats. Several possible explanations could account for the divergent findings: 1) Animals were exposed to acrylamide levels 1,000 to 100,000 times higher than what humans are exposed; 2) Humans may effectively detoxify acrylamide at levels in the diet; and 3) Sources of exposure in animal studies (water) differ from humans (food); 4) Epidemiological studies may not have sufficient statistical power to detect the cancer risk estimated based on risk assessment models. The story of dietary acrylamide and cancer risk in humans is still emerging, and additional epidemiological studies examining other cancers and in additional populations are warranted, including biomarker assessment of acrylamide exposure. Epidemiological studies will be important to establish the public health relevance of acrylamide formation in food. |
|
Chemistry and Toxicology of Acrylamide
8:50 AM-12:00 PM, Tuesday, August 21, 2007 BCEC -- 256, Oral
Division of Agricultural & Food Chemistry |