各种安全的化学品混合后可能会导致癌症

    From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.
    这里是美国之音慢速英语健康和生活方式报道。

    Every day, people come into contact with thousands of chemicals. These chemicals are said to be harmless to human health. In fact, the chemicals are considered so safe that we wash with them. We put them on our bodies and even our faces. Other chemical products are used throughout our homes.
    人们每天会接触到成千上万种化学品。这些化学品据说对人体健康无害。实际上,这些化学品被认为很安全,我们用它们洗脸,抹在身上甚至脸上。其它化工产品也在我们家里到处用到。

    By the time, you walk out your front door you have already been exposed to thousands of chemicals.
    到你走出大门为止,你已经接触到成千上万种化学品。

    On its own, each chemical seems harmless. But in combination with other chemicals, they may become deadly. That is the finding of a two-year study by a high-profile task force of scientists. The task force was told to investigate the cancer-causing possibility of chemical mixtures.
    就其本身而言,每种化学品看似无害。但是同其它化学品结合后它们可能就会致命。这是一个高调科学家工作组一项为期两年研究的研究结果。该工作组被要求调查化学混合物的致癌可能性。

    Linda Gulliver was one of 174 scientists on the task force. Their job was to study the cancer-causing potential of 85 chemicals. All 85 are said to be common in the environment.
    琳达·格列佛是该工作组174名科学家之一。他们的任务是研究85种化学品的致癌可能性。所有这85种化学品都是日常常见的。

    Ms. Gulliver explains that chemicals have the potential, or ability, to form dangerous mixtures. Even simple minerals can become dangerous when mixed with chemicals found in plastics or beauty products.
    格列佛女士解释说,化学品有可能会形成危险的混合物。即使是简单的矿物质,如果与塑料或美容产品中的化合物混合也会变得危险。

    "We're talking about everything that could be from basic minerals elements like copper, nickel to pesticides that are used in things like cosmetics and hair sprays and nail polishes and food wrappers."
    “我们说的是从铜、镍矿石等基本矿物质到杀虫剂这些东西,它们被用于化妆品、发胶、指甲油和食品包装。”

    Ms. Gulliver is also on the medical faculty of Otago University in Dunedin, New Zealand. While the chemicals are safe on their own, she says, the researchers found that many chemical compound cause cancer in human cells.
    格列佛女士还在新西兰达尼丁市奥塔哥大学医学系任职。她说,尽管这些化学品自身是安全的,研究人员发现,多种化学化学物会导致人体细胞出现癌症。

    Working in groups, the scientists explored how different chemical mixtures could lead to cancer. Ms. Gulliver's team looked at the ability of different combinations to support the increase of malignant human cells.
    在各个工作组中,科学家们探索了不同化学混合物如何导致癌症。格列佛女士的小组查看了不同化学品组合支持恶性人体细胞增长的能力。

    She says the big issue – what she calls ‘the $64 million dollar question' – is, "Which common, every day chemicals do people need to avoid?"
    她说,最大的问题就是人们需要避免使用哪些常见的化学品,这也是她所谓的价值6400万美元的问题。”

    "The $64 million dollar question that everybody wants to ask is, ‘Which ones [chemicals] should we be looking out for?' And the answer to that is, ‘We don't know yet.' "
    “人们都想要问的价值6400万美元的问题就是,‘我们应该找出哪种化学品?’而这个问题的答案是,‘我们尚不知道。’”

    She says the current way to identify whether chemicals cause cancer is to test them one at a time. This method leads, she adds, to a long list of supposedly "safe" chemicals. She and her team say that approach needs to change.
    她说,目前确定化学品是否导致癌症的办法是每次测试一种化学品。她补充说,这种办法产生了一长串据认为安全的化学品名单。她和她的团队表示,这种方法需要做出改变。

    "We definitely need certain research ... to find out what mixtures of chemicals would be more harmful than others; what groups of chemicals, when together, would produce more harmful effects. And at the moment, that is not known."
    “我们肯定需要一定的研究来找出什么化学混合物比其它更有害,什么化学品组合在混合时会产生更为有害的影响。而现在这些都不知道。

    An estimated one in five cancers has been linked to chemical exposure. It may turn out that the cancer-causing villain is not a single chemical at all. The villain could be a deadly combination. The increase of risk to cancer could be from exposure to many chemical compounds at the same time, or simultaneously.
    据估计,五分之一的癌症与接触化学品有关。它可能会证明,致癌罪魁恶首根本不是单一的某种化学品。这个罪魁恶首可能是各种化学品的一个致命组合。癌症风险增加可能是因为同时暴露在多种化学化合物中。”

    The task force published its findings in the journal Carcinogenesis.
    该工作组在《癌症月刊》(Journal Carcinogenesis)上发表了他们的研究成果。

    And that's the Health & Lifestyle report. I'm Anna Matteo.
    以上就是本期美国之音慢速英语健康和生活方式报道的全部内容。我是安娜·马特奥。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利,未经授权请勿转载,违者必究!)