Name: "永遠的化學品 "是如何汙染美國水的？
Uploaded: 2020-08-06T08:36:08.000Z
Duration: 12 min 6 s

The Cape Fear River runs down the eastern half of North Carolina,

恐懼角河沿著北卡羅來納州的東半部流下。

passing by major cities before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean.

經過主要城市，然後排入大西洋。

Right here, at the bottom of the river basin, is Wilmington – a city known for its iconic

就在這裡，在河流流域的底部，是威明頓--一個以其標誌性的城市而聞名的城市。

That's where you'll find this sign, describing the importance of this river to the region:

這就是你會發現這個標誌，描述了這條河對該地區的重要性。

“It flows southeast for 200 miles… has the largest basin in the state, covering more

"它向東南流了200英里... ...擁有全州最大的流域，覆蓋了更多的地區。

than 9,000 square miles… [and] drainage from 4 cities and runoff from factories, farms

超過9,000平方英里......[和]4個城市的排水和工廠、農場的徑流。

and homesites in 29 counties flows into it.”

This river system provides water to the entire basin and the Cape Fear is one of Wilmington's

這條河流系統為整個流域提供水源，恐懼角是威爾明頓的一個

A nationwide test of tap water recently ranked both Wilmington and neighboring Brunswick

最近，一項全美範圍的自來水測試將威明頓和鄰近的布倫瑞克的自來水都排在了第一位。

County in the top five for high levels of PFAS contamination — a group of chemicals

全氟辛烷磺酸（PFAS）汙染程度高的前五名的縣--一類化學品。

Anything that has water repellant in it, stain resistance in it, fire retardant, popcorn bags

凡是有防水、防汙功能的東西，阻燃劑、爆米花袋子

... popcorn bags and dental floss and pizza boxes...

...爆米花袋，牙線和比薩餅盒... ...。

... pizza boxes, rain gear, sleeping bags, food containers...

...披薩盒，雨具，睡袋，食物容器....

Tracing the sources of chemicals in this North Carolina river tells you exactly how the water

追溯北卡羅來納州這條河流中的化學物質來源，你就會知道這條河的水到底是怎麼來的。

got so contaminated...  … and it also tells you how chemical companies

被汙染了... ...  ...... 它還告訴你化學公司是如何

are getting away with polluting our drinking water — not just here, but throughout the

汙染我們的飲用水--不僅僅是這裡，而是整個國家。

This happens to be ground zero for these chemicals being discharged into the water and the air.

這裡恰好是這些化學品被排放到水和空氣中的零點。

99% of all Americans have this in their blood.

99%的美國人的血液裡都有這個。

Yet another chemical compound found in the Cape Fear River...

在恐懼角河中發現的另一種化學物質... ...

Chemicals used in consumer products like firefighting foam and nonstick products...

用於消防保麗龍和不粘產品等消費品中的化學品......。

... prompting concerns about the drinking water in Southeastern North Carolina.

......引發了人們對北卡羅來納州東南部飲用水的關注。

But it's basically what they call “forever chemicals” — they're long-chain fluorocarbons

但這基本上就是他們所說的 "永遠的化學品"--它們是長鏈氟碳化合物。

designed to withstand any kind of breakdown.

Forever chemicals, or “PFAS”, have strong molecular bonds that repel oil, water, and

永遠的化學品，或稱 "PFAS"，具有很強的分子鍵，可以排斥油、水和其他物質。

stains and can withstand extreme heat, making them almost indestructible.

汙漬，並能承受極端高溫，使其幾乎堅不可摧。

It was actually invented to coat tanks and military instruments and weaponry to protect

實際上，它是被髮明出來的，用來給坦克和軍事器械及武器塗上保護層。

Chemical companies like DuPont have been making PFAS since the 1930s.

像杜邦這樣的化工公司從20世紀30年代就開始製造全氟辛烷磺酸。

All around us are the product of modern chemistry...

在我們身邊都是現代化學的產物......

即使是燒焦的食物也不會粘在特富龍上... ...

Now, there are nearly 5,000 different forever chemicals, and “PFAS” is an umbrella term

現在，有近5000種不同的永遠的化學品，而 "PFAS "是一個總稱。

One of them, PFOA, was used by DuPont to make Teflon.

其中，全氟辛酸（PFOA）被杜邦公司用來製造特氟隆。

Also known as C8, it was the subject of a 2001 class action lawsuit claiming DuPont

它也被稱為C8，是2001年一起集體訴訟的主題，該訴訟聲稱杜邦公司

contaminated drinking water in Ohio and West Virginia.

俄亥俄州和西弗吉尼亞州的飲用水受到汙染。

PFAS chemicals accumulate in our bodies and that build-up can cause health problems long

PFAS化學品會在我們的身體中積累，這種積累會導致長期的健康問題。

You can't see it, and you can't taste it, and the kinds of impacts that occur with it

你看不到它，也嘗不到它的味道，以及它所發生的各種影響。

As a result of the lawsuit, DuPont funded a science panel that, in 2012, found probable

作為訴訟的結果，杜邦公司資助了一個科學小組，該小組在2012年發現了可能的。

links between C8 exposure and health problems like cancer after testing almost 70,000 people

在對近70,000人進行測試後，C8暴露與癌症等健康問題之間存在聯繫。

Five years later, DuPont settled without admitting any wrongdoing, despite evidence that they

五年後，杜邦公司在不承認任何不法行為的情況下進行了和解，儘管有證據表明他們

had known for decades about the harmful effects of PFAS.

幾十年來一直知道全氟辛烷磺酸的有害影響；

But by then, PFAS contamination had cropped up elsewhere.

但那時，全氟辛烷磺酸汙染已經在其他地方出現了。

The Cape Fear River Basin begins here, near the city of Greensboro.

恐懼角河流域從這裡開始，靠近格林斯博羅市。

In water samples taken from lakes in the area, researchers found a forever chemical called

在該地區湖泊中採集的水樣中，研究人員發現了一種名為 "永遠的化學物質"。

It was coming from here: The Piedmont Triad International Airport.

它是從這裡來的皮德蒙特國際機場

PFOS is in the firefighting foam... … used during training exercises conducted

消防保麗龍中含有全氟辛烷磺酸......在訓練演習中使用。

at airports like the one here.   … and that runoff flows into the upper river

像這裡的機場   ...... 徑流流入上游的河道中

Farther down on the Haw River—a tributary of the Cape Fear— forever chemicals are

在更遠的霍河上--恐懼角的支流--永遠的化學品都在這裡。

The people that do know about it, they don't drink the water.

There's people considering leaving because they don't feel like their water is safe.

有人考慮離開，因為他們覺得自己的水不安全。

Emily Sutton is a conservationist who tests the Haw River for contamination.

艾米麗-薩頓是一名保護主義者，她負責檢測霍河的汙染情況。

This spot in the Haw is directly impacted by the PFAS load that's coming directly from

鷹的這個地方直接受到PFAS負荷的影響，而PFAS負荷是直接來自於

Burlington's East Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Filters at the treatment facility are not designed to remove PFAS.

處理設施的過濾器不是為了去除全氟辛烷磺酸而設計的。

So wastewater coming from nearby industries arrives and leaves containing similar levels

所以，附近工業的廢水到了，離開時也含有類似含量的廢水。

Their effluent from the wastewater treatment plant comes directly into the Haw.

他們汙水處理廠的汙水直接進入霍。

We know that the city of Burlington's wastewater treatment plant is the main source for PFAS,

我們知道，伯靈頓市的汙水處理廠是全氟辛烷磺酸的主要來源。

but they're not necessarily creating the PFAS.

It's all of these different industries that are sending their waste to that wastewater

所有這些不同的行業都把他們的廢物送到了那個廢水處理廠

A few miles downriver,a water sample taken from beneath a bridge crossing the Haw showed

在下游幾英里處，從一座橫跨霍河的橋下采集的水樣顯示："我們的水已經被汙染了"。

And as the river flows down towards Wilmington, chemicals from other sources accumulate and

當河水流向威明頓時，來自其他來源的化學物質也會累積起來，並在威明頓的河水中留下痕跡。

push PFAS levels even higher near the city.

將全氟辛烷磺酸在城市附近的含量推得更高。

But it's not just the levels that start to change.

但是，不僅僅是水準開始變化。

If you look at the kinds of PFAS in that sample, you'll notice something else in the water.

如果你看一下樣品中的全氟辛烷磺酸的種類，你會發現水裡還有別的東西。

A newer type of forever chemical called GenX.

一種較新的永遠的化學品叫GenX。

It came from here, at the Chemours chemical plant, located between the two sample sites.

它來自這裡，位於兩個採樣點之間的Chemours化工廠。

The plant released wastewater into the Cape Fear River containing GenX, and also emitted

該廠將含有GenX的廢水排放到費厄角河中，還排放了大量的廢水。

the chemical into the air — where it settles on nearby land and entered the river as runoff.

化學品進入空氣----在空氣中沉降到附近的土地上，並作為徑流進入河流。

70 miles downstream, an intake pipe pulls in river water and supplies it to Wilmington.

在下游70英里處，一條進水管道拉來河水，供給威明頓。

The discovery of GenX in Wilmington's drinking water was front page news in 2017…

威明頓飲用水中發現GenX是2017年的頭版新聞......

When we woke up and saw the Star News article that Gen X was in our water, a group of citizens,

當我們醒來，看到星報的文章說X基因在我們的水中，一群市民。

we all got together around a dining room table and realized that we needed to address this

我們都聚集在餐桌旁，意識到我們需要解決這個問題。

Two years later Emily Donovan submitted water samples from Wilmington and Brunswick County

兩年後，艾米麗-多諾萬提交了威爾明頓和布倫瑞克縣的水樣。

to a nationwide study measuring PFAS levels in tap water.

在全國範圍內開展的一項測量自來水中全氟辛烷磺酸含量的研究。

Her Brunswick County sample came from Belville Elementary School.

她在布倫瑞克縣的樣本來自貝爾維爾小學。

I went back to my kids school, because I was curious to see what they were still drinking.

我回到孩子們的學校，因為我很好奇，想看看他們還在喝什麼。

That sample was the highest reported in that study.

這個樣本是該研究報告中最高的。

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"永遠的化學品 "是如何汙染美國水的？

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