Acrylamide is present in mainstream cigarette smoke and in some foods prepared at high temperatures. Animal studies have shown that acrylamide exposure increases oxidative stress; however, it is not known if this also occurs in humans. We recruited 800 subjects (mean age, 21.3 years, range, 12-30 years) from a population-based sample of Taiwanese adolescents and young adults to determine if urinary levels of the acrylamide metabolite N-acetyl-S-(propionamide)-cysteine (AAMA) and the oxidative stress product 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) are associated. The mean (SD) AAMA and 8-OHdG were 76.54 (76.42) mu g/L and 3.48 (2.37) mu g/L, respectively. In linear regression analyses, a 1-unit increase in natural log AAMA was significantly associated with an increase in natural log 8-OHdG (mu g/g creatinine) (beta=0.044, SE=0.019, P=0.020) after controlling for covariates. Subpopulation analyses showed AAMA and 8-OHdG were significantly associated with males, adolescents, non-current smokers, without alcohol consumption, subjects, body mass index >= 24, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance score >= 0.9. In conclusion, higher urinary AAMA concentrations were associated with increased levels of urinary 8-OHdG in this cohort. Further studies are warranted to determine if there is a causal relationship between acrylamide exposure and oxidative stress. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.