Genotoxicity and carcinogenicity of acrylamide: a critical review

Abstract

In 2002, public health concerns were raised by Swedish studies showing that relatively high levels of acrylamide were formed during the frying, roasting, or baking of a variety of foods, including potatoes, cereal products and coffee at temperatures above 120 degrees C. Acrylamide possesses a range of hazardous properties, the key effects being carcinogenicity, genotoxicity, neurotoxicity and reproductive toxicity. Acrylamide is clearly carcinogenic in studies in animals, in which it causes increased tumour incidence at a variety of sites. Although the mechanisms for tumour induction in experimental animals have not yet fully elucidated, the in vivo genotoxicity at gene and chromosome level in somatic and germ cells in rodents cannot be discounted from contributing to it. At this time, there is no information to indicate any significant difference between rodents and humans in sensitivity to cancer formation from acrylamide. The present available epidemiological studies of human industrial and accidental exposures have to be considered not suitable for use in the cancer risk assessment of acrylamide in food, due to several limitations. In reviewing the genotoxicity and carcinogenicity of acrylamide, the author has taken into account also the evaluations made by the IARC in 1994, the FAO/WHO in 2002 by the European Commission Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) in 2002 and by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additive (JECFA) in 2005.