美国国家公共电台 NPR Retailers Plan To Clear Deadly Paint Removers From Shelves, As EPA Delays Ban

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Families across the United States are fighting with the federal government over a deadly chemical. Dozens of people have died from inhaling¹ methylene chloride. This is an ingredient in common paint removers. NPR's Rebecca Hersher reports.

REBECCA HERSHER, BYLINE²: In October 2017, a 31-year-old named Drew Wynne decided³ to upgrade the walk-in fridge at his small coffee company in North Charleston, S.C.

CINDY WYNNE: (Laughter). Drew was gregarious⁴. He was brilliant in his coffee business.

HERSHER: That's his mom, Cindy. Anyway, the floor of the cold-brew coffee fridge needed new paint. So Drew went to a hardware store and bought a can of Goof⁵ Off paint stripper. On October 13, 2017, his business partner found him collapsed⁶ on the floor of the fridge. Cindy Wynne spoke⁷ to South Carolina Public Radio's Victoria Hansen around the one-year anniversary of her son's death.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

VICTORIA HANSEN, BYLINE: Hard to believe it's been a year.

WYNNE: It is. It is. And we don't consider it an anniversary because we all - our family feels anniversaries are something you celebrate. You don't celebrate a death of your child.

HERSHER: Drew died of suffocation⁸. According to the coroner's report, the culprit was a chemical called methylene chloride. It's an ingredient in popular products with brand names like Goof Off, Strypeeze, Klean Strip and Jasco, among others. Methylene chloride has killed at least 58 people since 1980. And because of all those deaths, a few years ago the Environmental Protection Agency started studying methylene chloride, trying to figure out if it should be banned altogether.

So walk me through it. How does the EPA decide to ban a chemical?

RICHARD ENGLER: So there are a variety of mechanisms⁹ for...

HERSHER: Richard Engler is a former chemist at the EPA. Now he works for a big D.C. law firm called Bergeson and Campbell. He gamely explained the mind-numbingly boring, very thorough process the EPA uses to figure out whether a chemical is too dangerous for consumers.

ENGLER: What are the exposure levels? What are the circumstances? Are they working in enclosed space? Are they working outside?

HERSHER: It took years to finish asking all those questions. But in 2017, they finally had an answer.

ENGLER: EPA proposed banning the paint removal use for methylene chloride. So you wouldn't be able to go to a store and buy it.

HERSHER: Because it was too dangerous. According to the EPA, methylene chloride and another chemical, called NMP, posed, quote, "unreasonable¹⁰ risks to consumers." That was in January 2017, 10 months before drew Wynne died. Today the ban is still pending¹¹. A spokesperson for the EPA would not confirm when it might be finalized¹². The companies that make methylene chloride, represented by the Halogenated Solvents¹³ Industry Alliance, also declined to comment for this story.

One thing that's clear, though - the companies that manufacture the chemical were not happy. They pressured the EPA to delay the rule, all of which has been so frustrating¹⁴ for Cindy Wynne and her family. Faced with federal inaction, the Wynnes and others have taken another approach, going directly to retailers¹⁵.

WYNNE: Retailers are really the ones where people come in totally unknowing and pick up the product and buy it.

HERSHER: She worked with the chemical safety advocacy group Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families to pressure big chains. So far, Lowe's, Home Depot¹⁶, Sherwin-Williams and a handful of others have agreed to stop selling products that contain methylene chloride and NMP by the end of the year. And a team of scientists at the University of Massachusetts announced last month that they've developed a safer alternative to methylene chloride that's equally effective. It should be available to consumers early in 2019. To Wynne, just one thing is missing, the promised federal ban.

WYNNE: That's what we're waiting for is EPA.

HERSHER: A couple weeks ago, the mothers of two other men who died of methylene chloride exposure told the EPA they'll sue if a rule isn't finalized by the end of December. Rebecca Hersher, NPR News.

1 inhaling   

v.吸入( inhale的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was treated for the effects of inhaling smoke. 他因吸入烟尘而接受治疗。 来自辞典例句
• The long-term effects of inhaling contaminated air is unknown. 长期吸入被污染空气的影响还无从知晓。 来自互联网

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 gregarious   

adj.群居的，喜好群居的

参考例句：

• These animals are highly gregarious.这些动物非常喜欢群居。
• They are gregarious birds and feed in flocks.它们是群居鸟类，会集群觅食。

5 goof   

v.弄糟；闲混；n.呆瓜

参考例句：

• We goofed last week at the end of our interview with singer Annie Ross.上周我们采访歌手安妮·罗斯，结果到快结束时犯了个愚蠢的错误。
• You will never be good students so long as you goof around.如果你们成天游手好闲，就永远也成不了好学生。

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 suffocation   

n.窒息

参考例句：

• The greatest dangers of pyroclastic avalanches are probably heat and suffocation. 火成碎屑崩落的最大危害可能是炽热和窒息作用。 来自辞典例句
• The room was hot to suffocation. 房间热得闷人。 来自辞典例句

9 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

11 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

12 finalized   

vt.完成（finalize的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The draft of this article has been finalized [done]. 这篇文章已经定稿。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The draft was revised several times before it was finalized. 稿子几经删改才定下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 solvents   

溶解的，溶剂

参考例句：

• It is resistant to borohydride reduction in alcoholic solvents. 在醇溶剂中，它不能被硼氢化物还原。
• Strains require special treatments for removal such as spotting with organic solvents. 要清除这些着色物质，需要特殊处理，例如：滴加有机溶剂。

14 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

16 depot   

n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站

参考例句：

• The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
• They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。