noxious

西武新宿線の高田馬場駅で異臭騒ぎがあり、9人が目や喉の痛みなどを訴え、病院へ緊急搬送されました。

Noxious-liquid attack on Tokyo station platform puts 9 in hospital

Nine people were rushed to a hospital after being sickened by a foul-smelling liquid in a Tokyo train station on Sept. 28.

The victims at Takadanobaba Station on the Seibu Shinjuku Line mainly complained of sore throats, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. One person is seriously sick, according to the Tokyo Fire Department.

Police are checking security camera footage in their hunt for the assailant.

The person who is seriously sick told police that the assailant splashed some sort of liquid.

Some passengers said they smelled something strange after a person passed them by.

The MPD said staff at the station reported a foul smell on a station platform around 5:40 p.m.

The victims were men and women ranging from their teens to their 30s, according to police.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201609290057.html

今回は見出しにあるnoxiousを取り上げます。『ライトハウス英和辞典』（第5版　研究社）で調べますと、形容詞で「（格式）有害（有毒）な」という意味であることがわかりました。Cambridge Free English Dictionaryには “Something, especially a gas or other substance, that is noxious is poisonous or very harmful” と説明されており、有毒ガスといいたい時にも用いるようです。
語源を調べてみますと、ラテン語の「有害な、傷をつける、害になる」という意味のnoxiusからきていて、noxaには害、打撃、損傷という意味があるようです。

過去に似た表現でperniciousが取り上げられておりました。（aqua）
pernicious - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心：言葉の森から