Acrylamide in biological samples can be determined by gas chromatography with electron-capture detection after conversion to its 2,3-dibromopropionamide derivative. The derivatization is carried out in aqueous solution, plasma or tissue homogenates by ionic bromination and the reaction conditions and sample clean-up are described. The detection limit corresponds to 9.5.10(-12)g of acrylamide on column or 8.4.10(-9)g in the final biological extract (0.5 ml). The overall recovery of acrylamide spiked samples at the nanogram level exceeds 80%. It was found that the accumulation of free acrylamide in the sciatic nerve distal region of rats intoxicated with acrylamide was less than 2-8 ppm.
