toxicity
noun
David S. CloudRudy M. Baum and Ron DaganiConnie SchultzDahlia Lithwick
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Toxicity is often a relative thing; in the words of a famous old saying, "The dose makes the poison". Thus, it's possible to die from drinking too much water, and lives have been saved by tiny doses of arsenic. Even though botulinum toxin is the most toxic substance known, it's the basic ingredient in Botox, which is injected into the face to get rid of wrinkles. With some poisons, mere skin contact can be lethal; others are lethal when breathed into the lungs in microscopic amounts. To determine if a chemical will be officially called a poison, researchers often use the "LD50" test: If 50 milligrams of the substance for every kilogram of an animal's body weight results in the death of 50% of test animals, the chemical is a poison. But there are problems with such tests, and toxicity remains a very individual concept.
Examples of toxicity in a Sentence
Ellen Matloff, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024
Symptoms of magnesium toxicity may include nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure, and depression.
—Johna Burdeos, Health, 28 Oct. 2024
The rest were aimed at human treatments and included preclinical toxicity testing of a pancreatic cancer drug candidate and development of a new islet cell transplantation method for type 1 diabetes.
—Bymeredith Wadman, science.org, 28 Oct. 2024
The longer a fish lives, the more mercury builds up in its system which can lead to heavy metal toxicity, the American Kennel Club reports.
—Olivia Munson, USA TODAY, 17 Oct. 2024
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“Toxicity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toxicity. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
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toxicity
noun
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