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Terms, word-pairs that sometimes trip us up [1]

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Date: 2023-10-02  

According to information I received through “comments” one time, I learned that there is a difference between toxins and “toxic chemicals, toxicants or chemical pollutants,”* which, for all intents and purposes and in the case of the latter, mean the same thing. Whereas a toxin is internal to life forms such as bees, jellyfish and rattlesnakes, for example, toxicants, toxic chemicals and toxics are what we know them to be; that is, chemical compounds that are harmful, poisonous, unhealthful to life.

You’d be surprised how common a mistake it is to equate the two.

If you must know, l learned the difference when a commenter responding to a post I wrote on the Air Quality Matters blog on Dec. 29, 2018, set both myself and the record straight. You can read the comments here: (alankandel.scienceblog.com/2018/12/29/at-long-last-a-curbing-air-pollutant-emissions-and-greenhouse-gases-focus), in the “Comments” section.

Using words or word-pairs incorrectly in many cases is more common than you may think.

Take the typically misused word-pair: “near-miss.” It is commonly taken to mean a miss. So, if this is so, what then is a near-hit? A hit? Um, no. A near-hit equates to a near-collision which would imply a miss. If that’s the case, which I believe it is, and as logic would have it, means a near-miss is a collision or a hit.

If you were not before, consider yourself now properly informed.

* “At long last, a curbing-air-pollutant-emissions-and-greenhouse-gases focus” (alankandel.scienceblog.com/2018/12/29/at-long-last-a-curbing-air-pollutant-emissions-and-greenhouse-gases-focus)

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