The harm of acrylamide to humans

Acrylamide is a polymer that is often used to purify water and is often used to purify water in daily life. Acrylamide has a wide range of uses and can also be used to produce polyacrylamide. But acrylamide is a chemical substance after all. The human body cannot tolerate it if exposed to it for a long time, which can cause poisoning and disease. This toxicity accumulates over time and will not occur all at once, so everyone must take measures when exposed to acrylamide in life. The following introduces the hazards of acrylamide to the human body.

The results of acute toxicity tests showed that the oral LD50 of acrylamide in rats, mice, guinea pigs and rabbits was 150-180 mg/kg, which is a moderately toxic substance.

2. Neurotoxicity and reproductive developmental toxicity

A large number of animal experimental studies have shown that acrylamide mainly causes neurotoxicity; in addition, it is reproductive and developmental toxicity. The neurotoxic effects mainly include degenerative changes in peripheral nerves and degeneration of parts of the brain involved in learning, memory and other cognitive functions; the reproductive toxic effects are manifested as a decrease in the number and vitality of sperm in male rats, changes in morphology and a decrease in fertility. In a 90-day feeding study in rats, with changes in nervous system morphology as the endpoint, the maximum no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) was 0.2 mg/kg bw/day. The NOAEL in the rat reproductive and developmental toxicity studies was 2 mg/kg bw/day.

Acrylamide has shown mutagenic effects in both in vivo and in vitro tests, and can cause gene mutations and chromosomal abnormalities in mammalian somatic cells and germ cells, such as micronucleus formation, sister chromatid exchange, polyploidy, aneuploidy and other mitotic abnormalities, and is positive in dominant lethal tests. It was also proved that the metabolite of acrylamide, propylene oxide, is its main mutagenic active substance.

Animal experiments have found that acrylamide can cause tumors in multiple organs of rats, including breast, thyroid, testicles, adrenal glands, central nervous system, oral cavity, uterus, pituitary gland, etc. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)

In 1994, its carcinogenicity was evaluated and acrylamide was classified as a Class 2 carcinogen (2A), i.e. a possible human carcinogen. The main basis for this is that acrylamide can be metabolized into its carcinogenic active metabolite glycidamide in both animals and humans.