第一篇翻译
Styrofoam degrades in seawater
发泡胶（语带双关）在海水中降解
Study suggests besides the visible plastic, smaller bits also foul the waters
研究表明，除了可见的塑胶，（不可见的塑胶）小颗粒也在污染着海水
By Rachel Ehrenberg
作者：瑞秋 爱恩伯格
Web edition : Thursday, August 20th, 2009
网络版：2009年8月20日，星期四
1）WASHINGTON — From the beer cooler at the bow to flotation devices and bumpers, life on the sea often involves light, white foamed plastic, commonly known by the trademark Styrofoam.
华盛顿——从船头的啤酒冷却器到浮选设备和（船的）保险杠，海上用品通常由轻的、白色的发泡塑胶（一般为人所熟知为商标——“发泡胶”）制成。
2）But life in the sea is encountering the plastic as well.
但是海洋中的生命也一样遭受着塑胶的威胁。
3）The chemical building blocks of foamed polystyrene have been detected in several areas of the Pacific Ocean and lab experiments demonstrate that the plastic degrades at seawater temperatures, researchers reported August 19 at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
太平洋的一些海域已经检测到含有化学成分的发泡胶块，在美国化学协会于八月十九日举行的一场会议上，研究者报告：实验室实验显示这种塑胶可以在海水温度下降解。
4）“Plastics are a contaminant that goes beyond the visual,” says Bill Henry of the Long Marine Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
加州大学圣克鲁兹分校长期海洋实验室的比尔亨利说：“塑胶是一种污染物，其危害性超出人们预料。”
5）The researchers’ reports are important, he says, because they provide “some of the first evidence of polystyrene as a potential contaminant to wildlife that’s more on the molecular level.”
研究者们的报告是重要的，他说，因为他们给出了“某种更多的在分子水平的第一手证据证明塑胶作为一种污染物对野生动物的影响。”
6）Polystyrene foam is a manufactured plastic primarily made up of rings of carbon and hydrogen, called phenyl groups, attached to long hydrocarbon chains that can break into smaller styrene units.
聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料是一种加工塑料，主要由被称作苯基团的碳环和氢环构成，苯基团连接到能降解成更小苯乙烯单元的长链碳氢化合物上。
7）Studies suggest that the smallest of these units — the styrene monomer — is carcinogenic in mice, but its effect on other organisms isn’t yet clear.
研究表明：最小的单元——苯乙烯单体——对小鼠有致癌性，但是（这种单体）对其他生物有无影响还不明确。
8）Water samples collected off Malaysia and the U.S. Pacific coast and in the northern Pacific Ocean all contained styrene monomers, as well as styrene dimers and trimers, reported Katsuhiko Saido of Nihon University in Chiba, Japan.
日本大学千叶校区的卡素西口赛一朵称：收集于远离马来西亚海岸、美国太平洋海岸和北太平洋的水样本都含有苯基团单体，二聚体和三聚体。
9）Saido and his colleagues also degraded polystyrene foam in the lab at 30º Celsius, similar to seawater temperature in some areas.
赛一朵和他的同事也在实验室温度为三十摄氏度（这一温度相当于一些海域的海水温度）下降解了聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料，这一温度相当于一些海域的海水温度。
10）The team found that the various smaller styrene units were present in the same relative quantities Katsuhiko Saido of Nihon University in Chiba, Japan in both the lab and in the water samples.
这个团队发现：各种较小聚乙烯单元被分解为相同对应数量的颗粒（在卡素西口赛一朵的实验室条件下和海水样本条件下）。
11）Much of the research on plastic pollution in the oceans has focused on what can be seen with the naked eye, says Joel Baker of the University of Washington Tacoma.
位于塔科马地区华盛顿大学的乔尔贝克说：很多关于海洋白色污染的研究过去聚焦在能被肉眼看见的污染物上。
12）Studies on animals tend to investigate damage from plastic nets or ingestion of visible chunks.
关于动物的研究趋向于查明塑料网和对可见塑胶块吞食（给动物带来）的危害。
13）But this new work adds to a growing body of evidence that many kinds of plastics break down in seawater into pieces too small to see.
但是这项新研究增添了更多的证据证明很多种塑料制品在海水中降解到肉眼不可见的小颗粒。
14）“We are concerned that plastic pollution is also caused by these invisible materials and that it will harm marine life,” Saido said.
赛一朵说：“我们担心白色污染（不止有可见的污染物）也由这些不可见的、危及海洋生物的物质组成。”
15）While the potential toxicity of these tiny plastic constituents is understudied for much of marine life, plastics are abundant in many forms.
尽管这些细小塑胶组成物（不可见）不是对很多海洋生物的潜在威胁的毒性物的主要研究对象，（可见的）塑胶制品（仍然）数量繁多，形式各异。
16）Marine litter is now 60 to 80 percent plastic, reaching 95 percent in some areas, according to a review by Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation in Long Beach, Calif., published in October 2008 in Environmental Research.
根据一项加州大学长滩分校奥尔加丽塔海洋研究基金会的查尔斯莫尔发表于2008年10月的《环境研究》上的
评论：现在，海洋垃圾中60%-80%是塑胶制品，有些地区达到95%。
17）And plastics, including polystyrene, are common in the wads of accumulated undigested matter that young black-footed albatrosses cough up before they fledge, Henry says.
并且，亨利说：包括聚苯乙烯在内，塑胶制品通常是大量聚集的不可消化物质，（可以导致）羽翼尚未丰满的黑脚信天翁咳嗽。
18）Getting at the effects on marine life is challenging—plastics travel long distances, their distribution in the oceans isn’t uniform and scientists are still refining methods to detect and analyze the materials. But, Baker says, “almost all of the plastic that enters the ocean stays in the ocean.”
获得（塑胶制品）对 海洋生物的影响是有挑战性的（任务）——塑胶制品（在海上）长距离漂流，分布（形式）不统一，科学家们仍然在探寻检验和分析这种物质的方法。但是，贝克说，“几乎所有进入海洋的塑胶制品还在（以不同的形式存在与）海上。”
19）Though plastics have benefits, Baker says, there’s a lot of gratuitous use. “Now is a ripe opportunity to be more judicious with how and when we use plastics to avoid this loading of the ocean,” he says.
贝克说：尽管塑胶制品（对人类）有用处，它也有很多不必要的使用。他说：“现在是更公正评判怎样以及何时使用塑胶制品以避免海洋负担的成熟时机。”
[ 本帖最后由 dazhi1986 于 2009-8-29 13:23 编辑 ] |
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