From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
From pollute + -ant.
pollutant (plural pollutants)
- A foreign substance that makes something dirty, or impure, especially waste from human activities.
1987 January 20, “Airborne Pollutants”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:Acid rain forms when water in the atmosphere condenses on particles containing acid-forming pollutants, such as sulfate produced by the burning of fossil fuels and nitrogen oxides from automobile exhausts.
