Associations between estimated acrylamide intakes, and hemoglobin AA adducts in a sample from the Malmö Diet and Cancer cohort.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the coherence of estimated intakes of acrylamide (AA) from foods, with hemoglobin (Hb) AA adduct levels, an objective marker of environmental AA exposure.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

SETTING

The Malmö Diet and Cancer study, a large population-based prospective cohort (n=28 098) in the south of Sweden.

SUBJECTS

A sample of non-smoking (n=70) and smoking (n=72) women and men selected to obtain large variation in Hb AA adducts.

METHODS

Self-reported data on the usual consumption of foods were combined with published data on the AA content in Swedish foods. The Hb AA adduct levels were determined by a modified Edman degradation method. Linear regression and correlation analysis examined associations between estimated AA intakes, and Hb AA adducts.

RESULTS

In randomly selected individuals (n=40), the estimated median AA intake was 28 mug per day. In linear regression models, adjusting for sex, significant associations were seen in non-smokers between Hb AA adducts and estimated AA from foods (P=0.006). In smokers both AA from foods (P=0.006) and the calculated amount of tobacco consumed (P=0.003) were significantly associated with Hb AA adducts. Positive partial correlations between dietary AA estimates and Hb AA adducts were seen in smoking men (r=0.37) and women (r=0.59), and in non-smoking men (r=0.60), but not in non-smoking women.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that both diet and tobacco are important sources of the environmental AA exposure, although the lack of correlations in non-smoking women cast doubt on the validity of dietary AA intake estimates used in cancer epidemiology, or suggest that unrecognized factors may influence the internal dose measure of AA exposure.