Acrylamide in Tap Water

In 1974, the Environmental Health Bureau, Ministry of Health & Welfare in Japan prescribed the standard for acrylamide in well water for drinking as "Undetectable (0.1 ppm limit of detection)", but this was abolished in the December 1993 Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality. However, in the March 2000 "Testing Method Guidelines for the Evaluation of Chemicals in Tap Water" from the Water Supply Division, Water Supply & Environmental Sanitation Dept., Environmental Health Bureau, Ministry of Health & Welfare in Japan, acrylamide was resurrected as a test item and gas chromatography (GC) was prescribed as a test method for it.

Gas Chromatograph

This separation/analysis instrument is widely used for the quantitative analysis of chemical substances. It is used with a detector and column combination that suits the analysis target components. In the case of acrylamide, it is brominated and then detected using an electron capture detector (ECD), which offers excellent selectivity and sensitivity.