Tests for the depolymerization of polyacrylamides as a potential source of acrylamide in heated foods.

This study was conducted to test the possibility that polyacrylamides used in agriculture may contribute to acrylamide formation in heated foods by thermal depolymerization. Two samples of polyacrylamide with low molecular weights of 1.5 and 10 kDa were used to test for in-chain and end-chain depolymerization.