Acrylamide in biological materials and methods of the analytical determination

Acrylamide is a toxic water-soluble highly-reactive substance of anthropogenic origin. It is formed in foodstuffs containing asparagine and reducing carbohydrates during their thermal processing at high temperatures. The presence of acrylamide has been proven in numerous kinds of food; fried potatoes and cereal based products contained significant levels. Approximately one third of human daily energy intake is food with a higher content of acrylamide, which gives rise to high loading. It effects as neurotoxin in human organism and is suspected to be genotoxic and carcinogenic to humans. In a relatively short time since the detection of acrylamide in human nutriment, many of scientific studies focused on contaminated food. Many indefinite findings resulted from all the data about its toxicity, negative effects and occurrence in biological materials. Based on former monitoring intent on the quantitative determination of acrylamide in food chain, we would like to emphasize the importance of additional studies on its occurrence in human milk and other biological fluids. Upon the strength of results of acrylamide research up till now, the European Union has discussed setting of maximum levels for acrylamide in particular types of food (Ref. 21).