Concerns have been raised that polyacrylamide used in agriculture may contaminate food with the nerve toxin acrylamide. While polyacrylamide itself is relatively non-toxic, it is known that commercially available polyacrylamide contains minute residual amounts of acrylamide remaining from its production, usually less than 0.05% w/w.[3]
Additionally, there are concerns that polyacrylamide may de-polymerise to form acrylamide. In a study conducted in 2003 at the Central Science Laboratory in Sand Hutton, England, polyacrylamide was treated similarly as food during cooking. It was shown that these conditions do not cause polyacrylamide to de-polymerise significantly.[4] California requires (current as of 2010) products containing acrylamide as an ingredient to be labeled with a statement that it is "a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer."
In a study conducted in 1997 at Kansas State University, the effect of environmental conditions on polyacrylamide were tested, and it was shown that degradation of polyacrylamide under certain conditions does in fact cause the release of acrylamide.[5] The experimental design of this study as well as its results and their interpretation have been questioned,[6][7] and a 1999 study by the Nalco Chemical Company did not replicate the results.
Acrylamide (or acrylic amide) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula C3H5NO. Its IUPAC name is prop-2-enamide. It is a white odourless crystalline solid, soluble in water, ethanol, ether, and chloroform. Acrylamide decomposes in the presence of acids, bases, oxidizing agents, iron, and iron salts. It decomposes non-thermally to form ammonia, and thermal decomposition produces carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and oxides of nitrogen.
Acrylamide is prepared on an industrial scale by the hydrolysis of acrylonitrile by nitrile hydratase.
Most acrylamide is used to synthesize polyacrylamides, which find many uses as water-soluble thickeners. These include use in wastewater treatment, gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), papermaking, ore processing, and the manufacture of permanent press fabrics. Some acrylamide is used in the manufacture of dyes and the manufacture of other monomers.
Acrylamide is a known lethal neurotoxin (median lethal dose in rabbit = 150 mg/kg) and animal carcinogen. Its discovery in some cooked starchy foods in 2002 prompted concerns about the carcinogenicity of those foods. Off of wikipedia.