研究生英语综合教程崔校平Unit5课文翻译

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What in the Air Causes Lung Cancer?

空气中的什么东西导致了肺癌？

Many have assumed that air pollution causes cancer, but proof was lacking. Until now.

许多人都认为空气污染会导致癌症，但缺乏证据。直到现在。

Last month (October 2013)the World Health Organization's cancer arm, the International

Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), declared that air pollution is a carcinogen. While

physicians and others have long intuited a relationship between poor air quality and malignancy,

few scientific organizations officially recognized the link. Proof was lacking.

上个月（2013年10月），世界卫生组织的癌症部门--国际癌症研究机构（IARC）宣布，

空气污染是一种致癌物。虽然医生和其他人长期以来一直认为恶劣的空气质量与恶性肿瘤之

间存在关系，但很少有科学组织正式承认这种联系。证据是缺乏的。

The new designation rests on findings of a large analysis published in Lancet Oncology. The

ESCAPE trial drew data from registries involving over 312,000 individuals in nine European

countries followed for over 12 years, on average. The investigators used several models to evaluate

possible associations between the sizes, types, and density of particles in air, or traffic patterns, and

lung cancer cases. They checked for social and economic factors, like fruit consumed per person,

age, sex, and education levels that might confound the data, and assessed smoking habits. A total of

2,095 lung cancer cases emerged within the study population. The researchers observed a clear,

positive correlation between the amount of particulate matter in air sampled near a person's address

and the odds of developing lung cancer. They also identified a weaker but statistically significant

link between the volume of road traffic near an individual's home and the chances of a lung cancer

diagnosis.

这项新的指定基于发表在《柳叶刀肿瘤学》上的一项大型分析的结果。ESCAPE试验从

涉及9个欧洲国家超过312,000人的登记处提取数据，平均跟踪时间超过12年。调查人员

使用了几个模型来评估空气中颗粒物的大小、类型和密度，或交通模式与肺癌病例之间可能

存在的关联。他们检查了社会和经济因素，如每人消费的水果、年龄、性别和教育水平，这

些因素可能混淆数据，并评估了吸烟习惯。研究人群中共出现了2,095个肺癌病例。研究人

员观察到，在一个人的地址附近取样的空气中的颗粒物数量与患肺癌的几率之间存在着明显

的正相关关系。他们还发现，在个人住所附近的道路交通量与肺癌诊断的几率之间存在较弱

但有统计学意义的联系。

"It's an important statement," said Regina Santella, a professor of Environmental Health

Sciences at Columbia University. What's unusual about the IARC decision is that it refers to air

pollution in general, rather than pointing to a specific chemical or toxin, she considered."This is

something the lay public will understand.“

"哥伦比亚大学环境健康科学教授Regina Santella说："这是一个重要的声明。她认为，

国际癌症研究机构决定的不寻常之处在于，它指的是一般的空气污染，而不是指向一种特定

的化学品或毒素。"这是普通公众会理解的。"

"Exactly what's in the air fluctuates from day to day. It varies within a city, and across

neighborhoods," Santella said. It's a complex problem because air pollution includes a wide range

of compounds. Potentially harmful chemicals enter air in cities from cars and trucks, industrial

plants, and in rural areas from burning leaves and other sources. Pollutants vary not just by chemical

composition, but by their size and capacity to penetrate deep in airways." For example, you might

want to look at particles that are less than 2.5 microns in diameter. Those tiny bits of airborne

material have major health effects," she said.

"空气中的确切成分每天都有波动。它在一个城市内和不同的社区都有所不同，"桑特拉

说。这是一个复杂的问题，因为空气污染包括各种各样的化合物。潜在的有害化学物质从汽

车和卡车、工业工厂进入城市空气，在农村地区从燃烧树叶和其他来源进入。污染物不仅因

化学成分而异，而且因其大小和渗透到呼吸道深处的能力而异"。例如，你可能想看一下直

径小于2.5微米的颗粒。这些微小的空气传播物质对健康有重大影响，"她说。

The U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP)does not currently list air pollution as a cause of

lung or other cancers."We haven't looked at air pollution as a single entity," said John Bucher, a

scientist, and NTP associate director. The interagency group is charged with evaluating tens of

thousands of chemicals for toxicity, and reporting those findings to the public. It works under the

auspices of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and collaborates with

the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and

Occupational Safety branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The NTP

usually publishes a biennial report on carcinogens. The last issue appeared in 2011. Meetings to

review information for the upcoming issue were delayed due to the government shutdown, Bucher

said. The updated report will be released in 2014.

美国国家毒理学计划（NTP）目前没有将空气污染列为肺癌或其他癌症的原因。"我们

没有将空气污染作为一个单一的实体来看待，"科学家兼NTP副主任约翰-布赫说。这个机

构间小组负责评估数以万计的化学品的毒性，并向公众报告这些发现。它在国家环境健康科

学研究所（NIEHS）的主持下工作，并与环境保护局（EPA）、食品和药物管理局（FDA）以

及疾病控制和预防中心（CDC）的职业安全部门合作。NTP通常每两年发表一次关于致癌物

的报告。上一期报告出现在2011年。Bucher说，由于政府停摆，审查即将发布的信息的会

议被推迟了。更新的报告将在2014年发布。

"The NTP is not just a cancer program. We look at all kinds of health harms," Bucher said. It

has examined particular components of air pollution, including mercury, lead, ozone benzene, and

other molecules. The problem of air pollution is vast, due to the sheer numbers of toxins emanating

from diverse sources throughout the country. Coal-fired power plants may account for as much as

40 to 50 percent of U.S. air pollution, he said. In the ESCAPE trial, the researchers looked at the

concentration of nitrogen oxides in air samples and did not find a relationship with lung cancer. The

NTP has not specifically studied that class of compounds in air pollution, but it does plan for an

analysis of sulfur dioxide-another product of coal-power plants.

"NTP不仅仅是一个癌症项目。我们研究所有种类的健康危害，"布赫说。它已经研究了

空气污染的特殊成分，包括汞、铅、臭氧苯和其他分子。空气污染的问题是巨大的，因为来

自全国各地不同来源的毒素数量庞大。他说，燃煤电厂可能占美国空气污染的40%至50%。

在ESCAPE试验中，研究人员观察了空气样本中氮氧化物的浓度，没有发现与肺癌的关系。

NTP没有专门研究过空气污染中的这一类化合物，但它确实计划对二氧 化硫--煤电厂的另

一种产品--进行分析。

Petrochemical plants generate thousands of distinct chemical compounds. Not all are harmful.

The EPA offers an interactive map of reported emissions from industrial facilities. But those data

don't tell all. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)represent another major factor in air

pollution. Those, typically byproducts of combustion, occur in some 1,500 distinct forms."But all

we know about this large class of agents is based on studies of only a dozen or so compounds,”

Bucher said.“Studies so far are inadequate.”

石化厂产生成千上万种不同的化学物质。并非所有的都是有害的。美国环保局提供了一