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.