Excel Case
Acrylamide: What is acrylamide?
Acrylamide is a chemical used mainly in certain industrial processes, such as in producing paper, dyes, and plastics, and in treating drinking water and wastewater. It is found in small amounts in some consumer products, such as caulk, food packaging, and some adhesives. Acrylamide is also found in cigarette smoke.
Acrylamide can also form in some starchy foods during high-temperature cooking processes, such as frying, roasting, and baking. Acrylamide forms from sugars and an amino acid that are naturally present in food; it does not come from food packaging or the environment.
What expert agencies say
Several agencies (national and international) study different substances in the environment to determine if they can cause cancer. (A substance that causes cancer or helps cancer grow is called a carcinogen.) The American Cancer Society looks to these organizations to evaluate the risks based on evidence from laboratory, animal, and human research studies.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is part of the World Health Organization (WHO). Its major goal is to identify causes of cancer. Based on the data from lab animals, IARC classifies acrylamide as a "probable human carcinogen".
The National Toxicology Program (NTP) is formed from parts of several different US government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The NTP has classified acrylamide as "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen" based on the studies in lab animals.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maintains the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), an electronic database that contains information on human health effects from exposure to various substances in the environment. The EPA classifies acrylamide as a "probable human carcinogen" based on studies in lab animals.
(For more information on the
Acrylamide is a chemical used mainly in certain industrial processes, such as in producing paper, dyes, and plastics, and in treating drinking water and wastewater. It is found in small amounts in some consumer products, such as caulk, food packaging, and some adhesives. Acrylamide is also found in cigarette smoke.
Acrylamide can also form in some starchy foods during high-temperature cooking processes, such as frying, roasting, and baking. Acrylamide forms from sugars and an amino acid that are naturally present in food; it does not come from food packaging or the environment.
What expert agencies say
Several agencies (national and international) study different substances in the environment to determine if they can cause cancer. (A substance that causes cancer or helps cancer grow is called a carcinogen.) The American Cancer Society looks to these organizations to evaluate the risks based on evidence from laboratory, animal, and human research studies.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is part of the World Health Organization (WHO). Its major goal is to identify causes of cancer. Based on the data from lab animals, IARC classifies acrylamide as a "probable human carcinogen".
The National Toxicology Program (NTP) is formed from parts of several different US government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The NTP has classified acrylamide as "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen" based on the studies in lab animals.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maintains the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), an electronic database that contains information on human health effects from exposure to various substances in the environment. The EPA classifies acrylamide as a "probable human carcinogen" based on studies in lab animals.
(For more information on the