One of the most common questions asked by newly entered polyacrylamide distributors and friends when talking about the company's products is whether polyacrylamide is toxic. I would like to discuss this issue with you here, hoping it will be useful for friends who are new to this product. Without further ado, let's get straight to the topic:
Quoting an online excerpt: The US Food and Drug Administration believes that PAM and its water-soluble components are low toxicity or non-toxic. The toxicity of PAM comes from residual acrylamide monomers and toxic metals carried in the production process. Acrylamide is a neurotoxic agent that has a damaging effect on the nervous system. After poisoning, symptoms such as muscle weakness and motor disorders appear on the surface. Therefore, health departments in various countries have regulations on the residual acrylamide content in polyacrylamide industrial products, generally ranging from 0.5% to 0.05%. When applied to general water purification treatment, the acrylamide content should be below 0.2%, and when used for direct drinking water treatment, it should be below 0.05%. The polyacrylamide standard of the International Health Organization, born in 1985, states that when the residual AM content in PAM is controlled below 0.05% and the dosage is controlled, the content in the treated water will be less than 0.25ug/L, which meets most of the drinking water standards. At present, the main general regulations in Europe and America stipulate that the residual AM content in PAM used for drinking water treatment and food should be below 0.05%, and the dosage of PAM should be controlled.
The situation of certain cationic polyacrylamide is much more complex, because the amino groups introduced by cationic polyacrylamide often have toxicity tens to hundreds of times higher than anionic and non-ionic types, and their chronic toxicity is further exacerbated.
Food grade products should be used as appropriate coagulants for drinking water treatment. In the "Implementation Manual of Water Supply and Drainage Standards and Specifications" for water treatment standards, it is clearly stipulated that polyacrylamide should be used at a concentration of>0.1mg/L under infrequent use and<0.1mg/L under frequent use. In the application of coagulation aid in water treatment processes, the dosage can be taken as the standard value mentioned above. Choosing food grade high-quality and low residual value polyacrylamide products can ensure the hygiene and safety of drinking water. If a certain water plant uses polyacrylamide coagulation aid with a dosage of 0.09mg/L, and uses food grade, filter effluent, and factory tap water from the Guangzhou Polyacrylamide Engineering Center of the Ministry of Chemical Industry, no acrylamide monomer was found. Therefore, it is believed that the use of polyacrylamide coagulation technology is safe for drinking water hygiene, as long as the quality and dosage of the product can be controlled well.
In the near future, the application of polyacrylamide organic products as water treatment agents in China will gradually expand with the expansion of water scarcity and the increasing demand for drinking water by the public. Compared with 1999, the usage of a certain water supply company has increased by about 8 times in 1997, and the number of water plants used has increased from one to six. The scope of use includes coagulation, coagulation aid, and filtration aid. It is reported that adding 0.015-0.05mg/L of polyacrylamide before filtration can increase the filtration cycle and production capacity by 10-16%. However, when increasing the filtration cycle, the head loss also increases, and the backwash time increases
