VOA常速英语2016--非洲女性护发用品抗癌成分堪忧

非洲女性护发用品抗癌成分堪忧

This may look like a typical hair salon¹ in Abuja. But it’s not. We specialize in maintaining and taking care of the natural hair. What the everyday people call the virgin² hair, the hair that hasn’t been relaxed, like the hair you were born with. At the Lumo Hair Salon, hairdressers use natural-based ingredients and avoid using heat on the hair of their clients. Heat can dry or damage hair. One of the reasons why this salon came up is because people had a lot of issues taking care of their natural hair. Hair is big business in Nigeria. Beauty stores display a wide range of hair products mainly imported from the United States. But some of the ingredients in these kinds of products are coming under scrutiny³. In a new report, Black Women for Wellness, an NGO based in Los Angeles, compiled five years of research and says that chemicals used in some hair products are linked to uterine fibroids in black women and girls. Products including relaxers, shampoos and hair dyes are mentioned in the study as containing toxic⁴ ingredients. The World Health Organization has warned that hairdressers may be routinely exposed to cancer-causing chemicals. But the American Cancer Association says studies have not found a strong link between cancer and hair products and recommends more research. In 2011, a health agency of the U.S. Department of Labor⁵ found that some “hair smoothing” products may release unsafe levels of formaldehyde, which is toxic. Dr. Oluwakemi Osunderu has been doing her own research, conducting a poll asking Nigerian women about the experiences with synthetic⁶ hair products. She says common complaints are hair loss and burns on the scalp. She says black women are more at risk because they tend to use hair products frequently over a longer period of time and therefore have higher exposure levels to the chemicals. You find some harmful products in them like the thalates and the parabens. These have been linked to cancer, especially breast cancer. Enter the natural hair movement. Natural hair activists⁷ gathered together at the first African Hair Summit in Abuja. It’s health first, then beauty or fashion. Locally manufactured products made with natural ingredients like pure shea butter and coconut⁸ oil were on display. And while interest may be growing, these products are still far from mainstream⁹ in Nigeria.

这里看起来可能像阿布贾典型的发廊，但其实不是。我们专营的是保养头发，维持发质自然。也就是大家常说的处女发质，没有经过特殊处理的发质，出生时自带的发质。卢莫发廊的理发师使用天然材质，并避免对客户头发加热。因为热量可能使发质干枯或损坏发质。这家发廊成立的原因之一就是因为很多人都很难维持自然的发质。在尼日利亚，有关头发的事儿都是头等大事儿。美容院有很多从美国进口的护发用品。但这些护发用品中的一些成分目前正在监察中。洛杉矶一家名为“黑人女选健康”的民间组织编纂了一则报告，这则报告对过去五年黑人女性的护发用品进行了调研。结果表明，一些护发用品中的化学成分与黑人妇女和女孩的子宫肌瘤有关。在有毒成分的列表中，直发膏、洗发水、染发剂都榜上有名。世界卫生组织警告称，理发师由于工作的原因，可能会经常接触引发癌症的化学成分。不过，美国癌症协会称，这样的调查报告并没有揭示出癌症与护发用品之间的直接因果关系，并建议进行更多相关调研。

2011年，美国劳工部的卫生部门发现一些护发素可能会释放出有毒的甲醛，对人体不健康。Oluwakemi一直在进行调研，对尼日利亚女性在合成护发用品方面的使用经验。Oluwakemi称，很多女性普遍反映有脱发现象，同时头皮也受到损伤。她还说，黑人女性的风险更大，因为他们习惯于长期地频繁使用同样的护发用品，这样就会更多地接触有毒化学成分。你在他们身上会检测出对羟基苯甲酸酯类这样的有毒物质。这些有毒物质都与癌症，尤其是乳腺癌密切相关。加入护发运动吧。护发运动积极分子齐聚一堂，参加阿布贾的第一届非洲发质峰会。有了健康，才能谈美丽与时尚。峰会上可以见到用牛油树脂和椰油制作的自然护发用品。而虽然当前人们对这些健康护发用品的兴趣不断攀升，但这离成为尼日利亚主流护发用品之路还很远。

1 salon   

n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室

参考例句：

• Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？
• You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

2 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

3 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

4 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

7 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 coconut   

n.椰子

参考例句：

• The husk of this coconut is particularly strong.椰子的外壳很明显非常坚固。
• The falling coconut gave him a terrific bang on the head.那只掉下的椰子砰地击中他的脑袋。

9 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。