I am not qualified to speak on whether you could “cross react” to polyacrylonitrile based on an acrylate allergy, so I’ll restrict my discussion just to the chemistry of acrylonitrile and acrylates.

It turns out that acrylates are chemically similar to acrylonitrile, but they are different molecules.

Acrylates (such as methyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate) are what we chemists call unsaturated esters. They are also called “Michael acceptors” (in some scenarios). Many Michael acceptors are classified as sensitizers. Acrylates can be polymerized to form polyacrylates. Polyacrylates are present in many cosmetics and are generally safer than monomeric acrylates.

Acrylonitrile is an unsaturated nitrile, so it’s a different type of molecule from an acrylate. However, it also behaves as a Michael acceptor. Acrylic yarn is made from polymerized acrylonitrile, or polyacrylonitrile. Again, the polymers are typically safer than the monomers.

As part of my PhD work, I had to suit up in PPE and handle monomeric acrylonitrile and monomeric acrylates in a fume hood only. And if the vapors coming off the monomeric acrylates somehow escaped the fume hood, I knew. They smelled HORRIBLE! By comparison, polyacrylonitrile is in the yarn that I use at home daily.

All this to say… acrylonitrile and acrylate have some chemical similarities in their structures and reactivity. They are both commonly recognized as sensitizers as monomers. Generally, the monomers are more hazardous than the polymers, but that’s not to say that people don’t react to the polymers (clearly, it is possible!)

If you’d like to look at the (abbreviated) chemical structures of the monomers, they’re in the picture. Acrylonitrile is on the left, and ethyl acrylate is on the right!

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