top of page
  • Writer's pictureRCS Ottawa

This is the chemical scientists say makes burnt toast potentially cancerous


Step away from the slice of toast you just burned. The black stuff on the outside could increase your risk of getting cancer…but probably not.

That’s the message health scientists have delivered for years, but it cropped up again this week (Jan. 23) when the UK government launched a new public health campaign. The UK Food Standards Agency is advising people to be aware that singeing food can increase their risk of exposure to acrylamide. The chemical has been classified as a carcinogen by health agencies around the globe, although its impacts on human health are not fully understood.

That acrylamide has been dubbed a carcinogen does not necessarily mean a person will get cancer if he or she comes into contact with it. The chemical is included on a list of literally hundreds of other things—some quite innocuous—that health groups have dubbed carcinogenic. Those include but are not limited to: Chinese-style salted fish, solar radiation, wood dust, leather dust, and hot beverages.


5 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

How should we Mask COVID-19?

Global coronavirus deaths have been falling—but scientists are worried that more infectious new variants of the virus may reverse those trends. As quickly as vaccines were developed, the virus has ev

How We Can Stop the Spread of COVID-19 By Christmas

We have a long road ahead before a vaccine is safe, effective and, most crucially, widely available. We need a multi-pronged public health strategy that includes a national testing plan that utilizes

mRNA the innovation behind Pfizer and Moderna vaccines

Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a pivotal molecule of life, involved in almost all aspects of cell biology. The last decade has seen improvements in the delivery of a new class of mRNA drugs. In molecular bi

bottom of page