Leitthema: Bewertung von Chemikalien

The detection of acrylamide in food gives cause for substantial concern. Acrylamide is a toxic substance, which among other things induces neurotoxic effects and is carcinoge- nic in animals.There is no reason to assume that these effects cannot occur in humans. For an average person in Germany, the daily uptake of acrylamide via food is estimated to be roughly 0.6 µg/kg body weight. Exposure can be several times higher for persons con- suming high amounts of food with high acrylamide content. It is not to be expected that these exposures lead to neurotoxic effects in humans. Due to the mutagenic effects of acrylamide, a non-threshold mode of action is assumed for carcinogenicity. Therefore, a cancer risk cannot be excluded for the consumption of acrylamide-contami- nated food.The acrylamide content in food should be decreased as far as reasonably feasible.