How to Use acetaldehyde in a Sentence

acetaldehyde

noun
  • This produces acetaldehyde, which gives the wine a kind of saltiness and aromas of almonds.
    — Per and Britt Karlsson, Forbes.com, 20 Apr. 2025
  • The humble orbs contain the amino acid cysteine, which helps break down acetaldehyde, which is thought to be one of the causes of hangovers.
    — Emily Heil, Washington Post, 30 Dec. 2019
  • In the case of ethanol, this process makes acetaldehyde—a toxic chemical—and then acetate, or acetic acid, the acid found in vinegar.
    — Matt Robison, Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2024
  • The cysteine in eggs, bacon, and even broccoli might help with the absorption of acetaldehyde, and the nausea.
    — Kyle Beechey, Bon Appétit, 25 Oct. 2019
  • In the liver, alcohol is broken down to acetaldehyde, which is toxic, and then to acetate, which is non-toxic.
    — Bill Sullivan, Discover Magazine, 10 Oct. 2019
  • This link is so strong that acetaldehyde has been classified as a carcinogen since 1999.
    — Nikki Crowley, The Conversation, 10 Jan. 2025
  • Some chemicals produced by e-cigarettes include formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, which are known to cause both lung and heart disease.
    — Omer Awan, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
  • This process results in toxic compounds, such as acetaldehyde, that can cause liver inflammation.
    — Angela Ryan Lee, Verywell Health, 10 Mar. 2026
  • Once in the body, alcohol breaks down into acetaldehyde — a carcinogen also found in tobacco smoke.
    — Kaitlin Sullivan, NBC news, 22 May 2025
  • Disulfiram also makes acetaldehyde from drinking alcohol build up when an enzyme in the body would usually break it down.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 23 Nov. 2023
  • Fewer drinks, whether over time or in one day, mean less exposure to acetaldehyde and potentially less effect on estrogen.
    — Michele Cohen Marill, Wired, 5 Oct. 2021
  • Some of the chemicals in e-cigarettes — including acetaldehyde, acrolein and formaldehyde — can cause lung and heart disease.
    — Mathew Rodriguez, Them, 3 Dec. 2024
  • Some of these include alcohol and acetaldehyde, both of which are known definite or probable carcinogens.
    — Dr. Keith Roach, oregonlive, 10 May 2022
  • But some people’s enzymes work more slowly than others, which leaves them exposed to acetaldehyde and its toxic effects longer, Wakeman says.
    — Jamie Ducharme, TIME, 28 Jan. 2025
  • Avoid Tobacco Smoking can increase levels of acetaldehyde in your body (which also may raise your cancer risk).
    — Jake Parks, Discover Magazine, 25 Nov. 2023
  • Blood acetaldehyde was more strongly correlated with poor performance than blood alcohol was.
    — Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 19 Feb. 2010
  • When alcohol breaks down, its first byproduct is acetaldehyde, a chemical that is itself classified as a carcinogen.
    — Pranoti Mandrekar, The Conversation, 7 Apr. 2025
  • On Earth, methyl formate and acetaldehyde are used as industrial chemicals, methanol and ethanol are alcohols, and acetic acid is in vinegar.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 7 Nov. 2025
  • Enlarge / Red wine headache (RWH) might be caused by quercetin, which inhibits an enzyme that processes acetaldehyde in the blood.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 20 Nov. 2023
  • It was also found that e-cigarettes contain a number of dangerous chemicals including acetaldehyde, acrolein and formaldehyde.
    — Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2023
  • The frozen COMs that were confirmed to exist around ST6 include acetaldehyde, acetic acid, ethanol, methanol and methyl formate.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 7 Nov. 2025
  • The heat of a home dryer can vaporize some compounds, producing small amounts of acetaldehyde and benzene, compounds also deemed to be carcinogens, increasing the risk of blood cancers.
    — Angelique Brenes, PEOPLE, 16 June 2026
  • The supplements will help move acetaldehyde, which is thought to be the main component responsible for inflammation and other hangover symptoms, through your system faster.
    — Rosa Heyman, Redbook, 13 Mar. 2015
  • First, the breakdown of alcohol (ethanol) in the body produces acetaldehyde, a toxic chemical that damages both DNA and proteins.
    — Avery Hurt, Discover Magazine, 28 Feb. 2025
  • Exposure to acetaldehyde can result in DNA damage and mutations that lead to cancer, Bernstein explains.
    — Jamie Ducharme, TIME, 28 Jan. 2025
  • The body breaks down alcohol into a chemical, acetaldehyde, that can damage cellular DNA and potentially cause cancer.
    — Joel Achenbach, The Seattle Times, 6 Aug. 2018
  • Dihydromyricetin appears to work its magic by enhancing alcohol metabolism and reducing its toxic byproduct, acetaldehyde.
    — Daryl Davies, Joshua Silva and Terry David Church, CNN, 27 Dec. 2019
  • Another enzyme, aldehyde dehydrogenase, quickly breaks down acetaldehyde again into acetate.
    — Angelica Bottaro, Verywell Health, 23 Jan. 2025
  • Packard said the petrochemical plants emit hundreds of tons of toxic, carcinogenic pollutants, including butadiene, acetaldehyde, benzene and formaldehyde.
    — Peter Fimrite, SFChronicle.com, 3 Dec. 2019
  • Using a new, precise chemical-identifying method, the group found evidence of an understudied mercury molecule called alpha-mercuri-acetaldehyde.
    — Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Mar. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'acetaldehyde.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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