Global demand for this compound is approximately five million tons per year, and the vast majority is used to make Nylon 6 filament, fiber, and plastics.

90% of caprolactam produced is used to make filament and fiber, 10% for plastics, and a small amount is used as a chemical intermediate.

[2] The other major industrial route involves formation of the oxime from cyclohexane using nitrosyl chloride, and this method accounts for 10% of world production.

As of 2016 caprolactam had the unusual status of being the only chemical in the International Agency for Research on Cancer's lowest hazard category, Group 4: "probably not carcinogenic to humans".

[5] Currently, there is no official permissible exposure limit set for workers handling caprolactam in the United States.

The recommended exposure limit is set at 1 mg/m3 over an eight-hour work shift for caprolactam dusts and vapors.

A study commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action estimates emissions between 9 kg of nitrous oxide per ton of caprolactam and almost zero.