carcinogenic
adjective
Jefferson KollePeter Bernfeld
Philip M. Boffey
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It sometimes seems as if the list of carcinogenic substances gets longer every day. A substance such as a food additive that's been in common use for years may unexpectedly show signs of being carcinogenic in laboratory experiments. When that happens, the suspected carcinogen will often have to be withdrawn from the market. When a building material like asbestos turns out to be a carcinogen, it may also have to be physically removed from buildings. English has hundreds of other scientific words ending in -genic (such as allergenic), and in almost all of them the ending means "causing".
Examples of carcinogenic in a Sentence
Scott Gilbertson, WIRED, 2 Nov. 2024
Also, amines are potential carcinogenic agents and can contaminate air, soil, and water, so plants need to figure in an attendant expense to manage environmental risks.
—Erik Kobayashi-Solomon, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024
PEGs are a class of synthetic ingredients that that go through a certain manufacturing process that produces a carcinogenic byproduct called 1,4-dioxane.
—Becca Sax, refinery29.com, 22 Oct. 2024
High heat, such as broiling, can produce carcinogenic compounds, Visvanathan says.
—Matt Fuchs, TIME, 10 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Carcinogenic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carcinogenic. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
carcinogenic
adjective
The Journal of the American Medical Association
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