Urinary acrylamide metabolites as biomarkers for short-term dietary exposure to acrylamide

It has previously been reported that heat-treated carbohydrate rich foods may contain high levels of acrylamide resulting in consumers being inadvertently exposed to acrylamide. Acrylamide is mainly excreted in the urine as mercapturic acid derivatives of acrylamide and glycidamide. In a clinical study comprising of 53 subjects, the urinary excretion of these metabolites was determined using solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography with positive electrospray MS/MS detection. The median (range) total excretion of acrylamide in urine during 24 h was 16 (7–47) μg acrylamide for non-smokers and 74 (38–106) μg acrylamide for smokers, respectively. It was found that the median intake estimate in the study based on 24 h dietary recall was 21 (13–178) and 26 (12–67) for non-smokers and smokers, respectively. The median dietary exposure to acrylamide was estimated to be 0.47 (range 0.17–1.16) μg/kg body weight per day. In a multiple linear regression analysis, the urinary excretion of acrylamide metabolites correlated statistically significant with intake of aspartic acid, protein, starch and coffee. Consumption of citrus fruits correlated negatively with excretion of acrylamide metabolites.