benzopyrene

[ ben-zoh-pahy-reen, -pahy-reen ]

noun

, Chemistry.

1. a yellow, crystalline aromatic carcinogenic hydrocarbon, C 20 H 12 , consisting of five fused benzene rings, produced by incomplete combustion of organic material, as coal, petroleum, or tobacco.

Word History and Origins

Origin of benzopyrene¹

1925–30; benzo- or benz- + pyrene ²

Example Sentences

It differs from warnings relating to barbecuing meat, which are concerned with another substance called benzopyrene.

From The Guardian

The investigators analyzed the samples they collected for evidence of other substances—coronene, benzopyrene and benzopyrylene, which are all chemical markers of burning hydrocarbons like oil.

From Time

Russia’s state statistics service ranked Magnitogorsk the third most polluted city in Russia in 2015, finding that the level of benzopyrene, a carcinogen that has been linked to lung cancer, in the air was 23 times the allowed amount.

From The Guardian

Since 2010, all its vehicles have been equipped with filters that leave no detectable trace of cancer-causing particles or benzopyrene molecules in their exhaust, spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mounier said.

From Reuters

The acceptable risk level of cancer from seafood consumption is determined by the quantity of seafood the average individual consumes, the body weight of the average consumer, the average human lifespan, the length of exposure, and the concentration of the PAH benzopyrene.

From Scientific American