VOA慢速英语2015 安全的化学品混合可致癌

Mixture of Safe Chemicals May Cause Cancer 安全的化学品混合可致癌

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

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.

By the time, you walk out your front door you have already been exposed to thousands of chemicals.

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.  

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.

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.

“We're talking about everything that could be from basic minerals elements like copper¹, nickel to pesticides² that are used in things like cosmetics³ and hair sprays and nail polishes and food wrappers."

Ms. Gulliver is also on the medical faculty⁴ 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.

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 malignant⁵ human cells.

She says the big issue – what she calls ‘the $64 million dollar question’ – is, “Which common, every day chemicals do people need to avoid?”

"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.’ "

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.

"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."

An estimated one in five cancers has been linked to chemical exposure. It may turn out that the cancer-causing villain⁶ 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 simultaneously⁷.

The task force published its findings in the journal Carcinogenesis.

And that’s the Health & Lifestyle report. I’m Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

expose – v. to cause (someone) to experience something or to be influenced or affected⁸ by something : exposure is the noun

potential – n. a chance or possibility that something will happen or exist in the future : potential can also be used as an adjective

task force – n. a group of people who deal with a specific problem

villain – n. someone or something that is blamed for a particular problem or difficulty

simultaneously – adv. happening at the same time: simultaneous is the adjective

1 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

2 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 cosmetics   

n.化妆品

参考例句：

• We sell a wide range of cosmetics at a very reasonable price. 我们以公道的价格出售各种化妆品。
• Cosmetics do not always cover up the deficiencies of nature. 化妆品未能掩饰天生的缺陷。

4 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

5 malignant   

adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的

参考例句：

• Alexander got a malignant slander.亚历山大受到恶意的诽谤。
• He started to his feet with a malignant glance at Winston.他爬了起来，不高兴地看了温斯顿一眼。

6 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

7 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。