Dilution paradigm

Term · Chemistry · MLC-T-CHM-003218

The belief that pollution is rendered harmless by dilution, so that releasing a contaminant into a large volume of air or water is an acceptable way to dispose of it. The idea underlies older discharge practice, and it fails for contaminants that persist, bioaccumulate or act at very low concentrations, because dilution does not remove them.

Table 1. Record
Identifier	MLC-T-CHM-003218
Field	Chemistry
Subject	Chemistry and Human Health
References	PAC, 2009, 81, 829. 'Glossary of terms used in ecotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2009)' on page 867 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-08-07-09)

Record as JSON

{
  "id": "MLC-T-CHM-003218",
  "term": "Dilution paradigm",
  "field": "Chemistry",
  "definition": "The belief that pollution is rendered harmless by dilution, so that releasing a contaminant into a large volume of air or water is an acceptable way to dispose of it. The idea underlies older discharge practice, and it fails for contaminants that persist, bioaccumulate or act at very low concentrations, because dilution does not remove them.",
  "subject": "Chemistry and Human Health",
  "references": [
    "PAC, 2009, 81, 829. 'Glossary of terms used in ecotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2009)' on page 867 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-08-07-09)"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/chemistry/dilution-paradigm/"
}

Record 3,422 of 13,676 in Chemistry terminology (MLC-0109). Request the full dataset.