Talk:Acrylamide
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[edit] health risk
Are our foodstuffs such as cows, being tested for cancer before being sold?
- IANAD (I Am Not A Doctor), but can cancer spread via foodstuffs that way? I don't believe it can? - Jugalator 01:27, Mar 16, 2005 (UTC)
Is Acrylamide a neurotoxin??? AFAIK, it is a neurotoxin. (I have been taught of this since I learnt how to cast SDS-PAGE Gel.) --Herbal Lemon 16:55, 13 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- I've updated the article with more information about direct acrylamide exposure, and the negative results from recent cancer research. The former may answer your question somewhat better than before. :-) After doing that research, yes, it seems like it has effects similar to a neurotoxin in very large doses to me, as among others it can cause nausea, slurred speech, and paresthesia (disorders in your nervous system). - Jugalator 01:27, Mar 16, 2005 (UTC)
It's a neurotoxin - my biochem lecturer spilt some on his hand once and it was numb for over a week. Don't know how it works but I believe it's worth wearing gloves when preparing polyacrylamide gels. Meconium 01:01, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
So, uh, how is it that the article states that the amount of acrylamide found in food is safe, but then many of the "external links" to newssites state that it is not? 65.24.24.173 01:35, 29 September 2005 (UTC)
I agree that this article is too complacent about the possible cancer risk from acrylamides. (Aside - research may not have found a differential consumption for people with/without cancer because everyone is already stuffed to the gills with it. ) droid
I had added some additional information about acrylamide in the diet and adjusted the article to give a more balanced view of the possible dangers (I guess that perhaps someone with a business interest in selling fried or baked food may have been trying to gloss over the potential dangers?). And by the way - there are many other food dangers in commonly eaten foods - eg. carcinogens in herbs and spices, and especially in nitrites (or is it nitrates?) used to preserve meat. I read a book about this recently, but have, er, forgotten what it is called. I wish someone would write an article on food risks if there is not one already. droid.
I have re-instated the improved version of the page after someone changed it back without explaination. The new version is the same as the version I found but has more information about acrylamides from food and cooking, gives a more balanced and fairer treatment of the possible health dangers (as the above user comments, the texts glossing over of the potential dangers was contradicted by the content of the links), and has one additional link. I am a post-graduate who has studied the dietry issues for a long time, so I think I know what I'm writing about. [Then you should know how to properly cite the sources of your information. Individual claims should refer to footnotes or annotated with an inline citation. A collection of links at the end is not helpful by itself. Note: I have not made any changes to the article; that was someone else.] I would appreciate it if the person who changed it back could provide an intelligent and rational justification for doing so. Thanks. droid.
- The change was mine, and the change involved ONLY wikilinking some terms and specifying the content of compensatory anticancer chemicals in coffee (see the diff). I reinstated that version. What else did I change, according to you? --Shaddack 13:46, 20 November 2005 (UTC)
Hello, I updated the section on cancer, and then adding a reference section created a table of contents, and as it was kinda weird having a toc in the lower third of the page I had to add other titles ... please adjust if you have a better idea Christian.B 02:58, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] SMILES inconsistency
I'm not a chemist. It's disconcerting to me that the SMILES string in the main text differs than the one in the sidebar overview. Is this due to discrepancy, or non-canonical notation? MaxEnt 23:25, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
- It's simply that the molecule can be notated in more than one way, similar to how comounds can have more than one IUPAC name depending on where you start. A species is in brackets to show that its a self contained group, anything after the brackets is attached to the atom before them. While I'm sure one or the other is deprecated, theyre both comprehensible. GeeJo (t)⁄(c) • 13:35, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] More possible content
Long article about Acrylamide in food - havnt had time to read all of it. http://v3.espacenet.com/textdes?DB=EPODOC&IDX=WO2004039174&QPN=WO2004039174
Via Google News: Nature.com (subscription) Enzyme cuts out acrylamide Nature.com (subscription), UK - 30 Aug 2006 ... Acrylamide is produced by the Maillard reaction — the chemical process by which carbohydrates transform, under heat, to golden-brown deliciousness. ... from http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060828/full/060828-2.html
“I estimate that acrylamide causes several thousand cancers per year in Americans,” said Clark University research Professor Dale Hattis. Hattis, an expert in risk analysis, based his estimate on standard EPA projections of risks from animal studies and limited sampling of acrylamide levels in Swedish and American foods. from http://www.lifeware.us/Healthy_Cookware_Science/Acrylamide_Report.pdf#search=%22%22mallard%20reaction%22%20acrylamide%22
When smoking was first identified as being carcinogenic, some people scoffed at it being dangerous, and I imagine a few journalists would write reassuring articles about how it wasnt particularly dangerous, or accuse others of scaremongering. I wonder if we're at that stage with acrylamide now.
I would like to have clarified the connection with the Maillard reaction. And the article currently claims acrylamide is produced in two ways in food - by browning, and by prunes (which are dried - and hence browned - plums) and olives (which are processed to remove the bitter taste of raw olives) - which two chemical reactions are relevant here?
[edit] Correction of the structure image for Acrylamide
The correct structure for Acrylamide should show as -CONH2 (rather than CONH) - please help edit.
Regards Mehtapm 11:34, 19 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Weasel words
The first paragaph of the 'cancer link' chapter contains a lot of weasel words: 'Some sources claim', 'accounts for a significant number', 'no consensus among the scientific and medical community', 'actively researched and investigated by government bodies', 'several different countries', 'Some research'. this should be clarified or removed. Update: paragaph removed.Sciencefact 00:04, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] ambiguity in intro
What does 'Acrylamide is incompatible with' in the initial paragraph mean? How & why is it incompatible unless this is obvious or excplained it prob shouldn't be there esp in the intro --Nate1481 11:09, 23 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Acrylamide in Olives
Has anyone a reference for this claim ? Nothing is said about this in the article on Olives.
Ditto prunes. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.157.183.213 (talk) 00:26, 25 February 2007 (UTC).
[edit] Acrylamide in Potatoes
How does the storage-temperature issue tie in with the commonly used frozen potatoes ? One suspects that once freezing takes place, the fructose formation is stalled, but what are the facts ? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.157.177.139 (talk) 02:49, 25 February 2007 (UTC).
