Title: chemical time bomb
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - chemical time bomb
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.14520
Status: current

Definition
Substance or substances in a component of the environment which are not currently bioavailable but which may become bioavailable at an unknown time in the future with harmful consequences.

Related Term
- bioavailable: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/14473

Source
- PAC, 2009, 81, 829. 'Glossary of terms used in ecotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2009)' on page 856 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-08-07-09)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/14520/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/14520/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/14520/xml

Citation: Citation: 'chemical time bomb' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.14520
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-04-18T11:44:53+00:00