We compute the vector space T1 of first-order infinitesimal deformations for affine toric varieties X(sigma). The results is given by two different formulas which use combinatorial data of the given cone sigma only. One of these formulas suggests that there is a relation between deformations of affine toric varieties, on the one hand, and splitting of certain polyhedra into a Minkowski sum, on the other hand. As an application, the result is used to investigate when three-dimensional affine toric varieties are rigid.