OT: Cancer Risk in Chips, French Fries, Bread - Study

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

Where they gonna stop? What we gonna do? What we gonna eat? I'm gonna

go get me a grass sandwich now .. organic .. and a chicken donor kebap.

And a cold Efes Beer too .. ;-p

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

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[HEALTHE] Cancer [ & neurological] Risk in Chips, French

Fries, Bread - Study

Fri, 3 May 2002 15:24:53 -0500

Bunny Snow <sksnow

Health and Environment Resource Center

<HEALTHE

HEALTHE

 

Cancer Risk in Chips, French Fries, Bread - Study

Wed Apr 24,11:21 AM ET

 

By Peter Starck

 

**STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Reuters) - Basic foods eaten by millions around the

world such as bread, biscuits, chips and French fries contain alarmingly

high quantities of acrylamide, a substance believed to cause cancer,

Swedish scientists said Wednesday.

 

The research carried out at Stockholm University in cooperation with

experts at Sweden's National Food Administration, a government food

safety agency, showed that heating of carbohydrate-rich foods, such as

potatoes, rice or cereals formed acrylamide, a much-studied substance

classified as a probable human carcinogen.

 

The research was deemed so important that the scientists decided on the

unusual step of going public with their findings before the research

had been officially published in an academic journal. . . .

 

Findings unveiled at a news conference called by the food administration

showed that an ordinary bag of potato chips may contain up to 500 times

more of the substance than the top level allowed in drinking water by

the World Health Organization (news - web sites) (WHO).

 

French fries sold at Swedish franchises of U.S. fast-food chains Burger

King Corp. and McDonald's contained about 100 times the 1 microgram per

liter maximum permitted by the WHO for drinking water, the study showed.

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (news - web sites) classifies

acrylamide, a colorless, crystalline solid, as a medium hazard probable

human carcinogen.

 

According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, acrylamide

induces gene mutations and has been found in animal tests to cause

benign and malignant stomach tumors.

 

It is also known to cause damage to the central and peripheral nervous

system. . . .**

 

FULL STORY at:

http://story.news./news?tmpl=story & u=/nm/20020424/ts_nm/health_food_can\

cer_dc_6

 

-------

I went to the HSDB at TOXNET <http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/ > to learn more

about acrylamide. Here are two excerpts of the human health effects

that may interest you.

 

ACRYLAMIDE

CASRN: 79-06-1

Human Toxicity Excerpts:

 

''... In man with the ingestion of acrylamide as has occurred from

drinking water contaminated with this chemical, the symptoms

..../primarily involved the/ CNS. In these instances drowsiness,

disturbances of balance, & mental changes characterized by confusion,

memory loss, & hallucinations, were paramount. Peripheral neurological

changes did not appear until later. ''

[international Labour Office. Encyclopedia of Occupational Health and

Safety. Vols. I & II. Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Office,

1983. 138]

**PEER REVIEWED**

 

''ALTHOUGH THE POLYMER IS NONTOXIC, ABSORPTION OF ACRYLAMIDE /SRP:

MONOMER/ THROUGH SKIN OR DUSTS HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH SERIOUS

NEUROLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES. A VARIABLE POLYNEUROPATHY WITH MOTOR &

SENSORY IMPAIRMENT IS MARKED WITH NUMBNESS, PARESTHESIAS, ... ATAXIA,

TREMOR, DYSARTHRIA ... ARE CONSISTENT WITH MID-BRAIN LESIONS. ALTHOUGH

RECOVERY OVER COURSE OF MONTHS HAS BEEN THE RULE IN MILD CASES,

PERMANENT NEUROLOGICAL SEQUELAE ARE OBSERVED IN SEVERE INTOXICATION.''

[Hamilton, A., and H. L. Hardy. Industrial Toxicology. 3rd ed. Acton,

Mass.: Publishing Sciences Group, Inc., 1974. 341]**PEER REVIEWED**

 

[For more of the serious clinical effects from high doses, see:

Emergency Medical Treatment at <http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/ >. Go to HSDB

and search for acrylamide. You may need a medical dictionary for

translation or you can go to Merriam Webster Collegiate at:

<http://www.m-w.com/dictionary>

<http://www.medicinenet.com/Script/Main/AlphaIdx.asp?li=MNI & d=510 & cu=16583 & w=0 & p\

=A_DICT>

 

<http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/9276/9276.html> ~Bunny

Snow

 

Major Uses:

 

For Acrylamide (USEPA/OPP Pesticide Code: 600008) there are 0 labels

match. /SRP: Not registered for current use in the U.S., but approved

pesticide uses may change periodically and so federal, state and local

authorities must be consulted for currently approved uses./

[u.S. Environmental Protection Agency/Office of Pesticide Program's

Chemical Ingredients Database on Acrylamide (79-06-1). Available from

the Database Query page at http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/epa/epamenu.htm

as of May 24, 2001.]**PEER REVIEWED**

 

I found acryladmide mixtures amongst the so-called inert (other)

ingredients allowed to be used in pesticides.

List 3 Inert (Other) ingredients in pesticides

 

[CAS#[ 25136-75-8 Acrylic acid, polymer with acrylamide and

diallyldimethylammonium chloride

3

[CAS#] 25987-30-8 Acrylic acid, polymer with acrylamide, sodium salt

 

3

<on page 1 of 42 at:

http://www.epa.gov/opprd001/inerts/list3inerts.pdf>

 

2-[ Methyl(polyfluoralkysulfonyl)amino]ethyl methacrylate, polym. w.

heptyl methacrylate, butyl methacrylate and N-methylolacrylamide

3.

<page 26 of 42 at: http://www.epa.gov/opprd001/inerts/list3inerts.pdf>

 

--

<http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/> HSDB, TOXNET, Manufacturing Major uses:

 

REACTIVE MONOMER & INTERMEDIATE IN PRODUCTION OF ORGANIC CHEMICALS;

POLYMER OR COPOLYMER IN SUCH APPLICATIONS AS ADHESIVES, FIBERS, PAPER

SIZING, MOLDED PARTS, WATER COAGULANT AIDS, AND TEXTILES.

[American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, Inc.

Documentation of the Threshold Limit Values and Biological Exposure

Indices. 6th ed. Volumes I,II, III. Cincinnati, OH: ACGIH, 1991.

23]**PEER REVIEWED**

 

Synthesis of dyes; cross-linking agent; adhesives, paper and textile

sizes; in soil conditioning agents; flocculants; sewage and waste

treatment; in ore processing, permanent press fabrics.

[Lewis, R.J., Sr (Ed.). Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary. 13th ed.

New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1997. 17]**PEER REVIEWED**

 

Used in electrophoresis, molecular biology, genetic engineering.

[Kuney, J.H. (ed.). CHEMCYCLOPEDIA 90. Washington, DC: American Chemical

Society, 1990. 43]**PEER REVIEWED**

 

Monomer as chemical intermediate in production of polyacrylamides; in

synthesis of dyes; in copolymers for contact lenses; in construction of

dam foundations, tunnels, and sewers. Polymers as additives for water

treatment, enhanced oil recovery, flocculants, papermaking aids,

thickeners, soil conditioning agents, sewage and waste treatment, ore

processing, permanent-press fabrics.

[budavari, S. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals,

Drugs, and Biologicals. Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck and Co., Inc.,

1996. 23]

**PEER REVIEWED**

 

Oil well drilling fluids; soil stabilization; dye acceptors; polymers

for promoting adhesion; increasing the softening point and solvent

resistance of resins; components of photopolymerizable systems;

cross-linking agents in vinyl polymers.

[Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. 4th ed. Volumes 1:

New York, NY. John Wiley and Sons, 1991-Present.,p. V1 (1991) 251]

**PEER REVIEWED**

 

Manufacturers of acrylamide and the production sites:

 

Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corp., Additives Division, Water Treatment

Business Unit; Production site: Suffolk, VA 23434

Cytec Industries Inc., Building Block Chemicals; Production site:

Waggaman, LA 70094

Dow Chemical U.S.A.; Production site: Midland, MI 48667

Nalco Chemical Co.; Production site: Garyville, LA 70051

All are peer reviewed.

--

 

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