A toxin is a poisonous substance, and in careful scientific use it means a poison made by a living thing — bacteria, a fungus, a plant, a snake, a jellyfish. That is the difference science draws: a toxin is a poison of biological origin, while a poison made in a factory is usually called a toxic chemical or just a poison.

A toxin toxin is a poisonous substance是一種有毒物質，and in careful scientific use而在嚴謹的科學用法裡 it means它指的是 a poison made by a living thing由生物製造出來的毒 — bacteria, a fungus, a plant, a snake, a jellyfish細菌、真菌、植物、蛇、水母。That這 is the difference science draws就是科學上劃的分界：a toxin toxin is a poison of biological origin是生物來源的毒，while a poison made in a factory而工廠製造出來的毒 is usually called通常叫做 a toxic chemical or just a poison有毒化學物質或就只是毒。

Food poisoning is the everyday example: some bacteria in badly stored food release toxins, and it is those toxins, not the bacteria themselves, that make you vomit. Two toxins you may have heard of are botulinum toxin, the strongest one known, which in tiny doses is sold as Botox, and the tetanus toxin, which is what the vaccine protects you against.

Food poisoning食物中毒 is the everyday example就是日常的例子：some bacteria in badly stored food保存不當的食物裡的某些細菌 release toxins會釋放toxins，and and it is those toxins而正是那些toxins, not the bacteria themselves而不是細菌本身, that make you vomit讓你嘔吐。Two toxins you may have heard of你可能聽過的兩種toxins are是 botulinum toxin肉毒桿菌毒素, the strongest one known已知最強的一種, which in tiny doses is sold as Botox極少量時被拿來賣成Botox, and the tetanus toxin還有破傷風毒素, which is what the vaccine protects you against就是疫苗保護你對抗的那個。

Now the messy truth: outside science, people use toxin very loosely. Advertisements for teas, foot patches, and 'detox' programmes promise to remove 'toxins' from your body without ever naming one, and this vague use is mostly marketing rather than medicine.

Now the messy truth現在來說一個比較亂的事實：outside science在科學之外, people人們 use toxin用toxin這個字 very loosely用得很鬆散。Advertisements for teas, foot patches, and 'detox' programmes茶飲、足貼和「排毒」療程的廣告 promise to remove 'toxins' from your body保證能幫你排除體內的「toxins」 without ever naming one卻從來不說清楚是哪一種，and this vague use而這種模糊的用法 is mostly marketing rather than medicine多半是行銷手法，而不是醫學。

Your liver and kidneys already do that work. So when you read 'toxin', it is worth asking which toxin is meant — a real named substance, or a word used to sound scientific.

Your liver and kidneys你的肝臟和腎臟 already do that work早就在做這件事了。So所以 when you read 'toxin'當你看到「toxin」這個字時, it is worth asking值得問問自己 which toxin is meant指的是哪一種toxin — a real named substance一個有名字的真實物質，or a word used to sound scientific還是只是為了聽起來科學而用的字。