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Water-soluble anionic polyacrylamide (WSPAM), which is used to reduce erosion in furrow irrigated fi elds and other agriculture applications, contains less than 0.05% acrylamide monomer (AMD). Acrylamide monomer, a potent neurotoxicant and suspected carcinogen, is readily dissolved and transported in fl owing water. Th e study quantifi ed AMD leaching losses from a WSPAM-treated corn (Zea mays L.) fi eld using continuous extraction-walled percolation samplers buried at 1.2 m depth. Th e samplers were placed 30 and 150 m from the infl ow source along a 180-m-long corn fi eld. Th e fi eld was furrow irrigated using WSPAM at the rate of 10 mg L −1 during furrow advance. Percolation water and furrow infl ows were monitored for AMD during and after three furrow irrigations. Th e samples were analyzed for AMD using a gas chromatograph equipped with an electron-capture detector. Furrow infl ows contained an average AMD concentration of 5.5 μg L −1 . Th e AMD in percolation water samples never exceeded the minimum detection limit and the de facto potable water standard of 0.5 μg L −1 . Th e risk that ground water beneath these WSPAM-treated furrow irrigated soils will be contaminated with AMD appears minimal.

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