there's a chance it'll contain these really small beads of plastic. They're

它很有可能就含有這些塑膠微粒

designed to gently strip away the outer dead layers of your skin, and leave you

它們的作用是去除你臉上的老化角質，讓你使用完

feeling tingly fresh. Since the nineteen nineties, these beads have been used in

感到徹底清爽。 自90年代起，這些微粒就開始用於

thousands of products: foundations, facial scrubs, shampoos, exfoliants, soaps, face polish ...

大量的產品中：保養品、臉部磨砂膏、沐浴乳、去角質產品、肥皂、煥膚產品…

whatever that is, and even toothpaste. They're typically around a millimeter or less in

不論那是什麼，甚至用於牙膏中。這些微粒直徑大約一毫米或更小

diameter, so similar in size of a grain of sugar. Unfortunately, while they seem

體積大概跟砂糖差不多。 壞消息是它們雖然看起來

to be effective, they may be creating problems. In 2013, researchers discovered

很有用，卻可能造成某些問題。 2013年研究發現

that these microbeads were appearing in the environment, and they raised the alarm

這些微粒出現在自然環境中，這讓人們開始警覺

over possible adverse impacts. Since then, ten states in the US have restricted sales

其中可能存在的不利影響。 自那時開始，美國有10個州限制

of microbead-containing products, and similar legislation is pending in six more.

含塑膠微粒產品的銷售，還有其他六個州正在審核類似的法案。

There are also proposals on the table for a federal ban on the use of microbeads in the US.

甚至有人提議聯邦法院禁止美國境內使用塑膠微粒

But how concerned should you really be?

但是你應該多擔心這件事呢？

Polyethylene - the plastic most microbeads are made of - is pretty non-toxic.

塑膠微粒的主要成分聚乙烯完全無毒

It doesn't cause cancer, it doesn't seem to be a problem if you eat it, and it doesn't irritate your skin.

它不會導致罹癌，誤食也不會有問題，它也不會導致肌膚發炎

In fact it doesn't do much of anything, including dissolve, or decompose.

事實上，它幾乎沒有任何作用，也不會溶解或腐化

And this is where things get tricky. Microbeads in personal care products

而這就是事有蹊俏的地方。個人護理產品中的塑膠微粒

eventually end up being washed down the drain. And because they're so small, they

最終都是沖到下水道。因為它們很小

escape capture in wastewater treatment plants, eventually ending up in

所以它們不會被淨水裝置阻擋下來，最後流到

rivers, lakes, and oceans. Once there, because they don't degrade or sink,

河流、湖泊還有海洋中。這時候，因為它們不會腐化或是沉澱

they stick around. For a long, long time. This is an environmental red flag in itself.

這些微粒在水中漂浮很長一段時間。這個現象就已經是個環境警報了

But there is another problem.

但還有另一個問題

Microbeads suck up toxic chemicals, and then potentially release them elsewhere,

塑膠微粒會吸收有毒化學物質，也有可能在其他地方釋放出來

including into mussels, crabs, fish, and other organisms, that may ultimately end up

像是蚌類、蟹類、魚類等其他生物體內，這些最後都可能

on your dinner plate.

出現在你的晚餐菜盤中

Of course, how dangerous this is depends on how large the resulting exposures are.

當然，其危險程度取決於微粒暴露在環境中的狀態

Professor Sherri Mason at the State University of New York at Fredonia is

美國佛里多尼亞紐約大學的薛麗麥森教授

one scientist working on the problem. Sherri and her colleagues have measured up to

是一位致力研究這項議題的科學家。薛麗與她的同事測量發現

a million microbeads per square kilometre at the surface of Lake Ontario.

安大略湖面每平方公里即有一百萬顆微粒

This is roughly equivalent to a polyethylene concentration of

這大約等同於6ppb的聚乙烯

six parts per billion.

(每10億公升的水中有6微克的聚乙烯)

This may not sound a lot. And it wouldn't be if the plastic was the

這聽起來可能不多。而且如果塑膠是唯一問題的話

only problem. But even at this low concentration, toxins absorbed to the

事情就不會這麼複雜。但即使微粒的集中度這麼低，它們吸收的毒素

microbeads could be an issue. To make matters worse, organisms that do take up

可能才是問題所在。更糟的是食入微粒的生物

beads, concentrate them into a smaller volume, potentially leading to higher exposures.

等於是講這些毒素集中在一個小空間，這會增加微粒受汙染的程度

And this isn't an issue confined to microbeads. Micro plastics,

而這不僅是塑膠微粒的問題。我們持續把這些塑膠微粒

millimeter-sized fragments of the plastic rubbish we're continually dumping

這些直徑僅1毫米的塑膠垃圾丟入

into the environment, also suck up toxins, and pass them up the food chain.

自然環境中，它們吸附環境中的有毒物質，最終將毒素帶入食物鏈

But microbeads certainly add to the problem.

但是塑膠微粒絕對增加了問題的嚴重性

At this point we don't know how big of a challenge we're facing, but without a doubt,

目前我們不知道面臨的挑戰多嚴峻，但是無庸置疑

microbead raise some serious red flags. On top of this though there is another issue

塑膠微粒的現象已拉起紅色警報。先撇開這些不說，關於塑膠微粒還有

with microbeads, even before they disappear down the drain. And that's

另一個發生在它們被沖入下水道之前的問題。

their use in toothpaste. Some toothpastes include microbeads to, you guessed it,

那就是牙膏。有些牙膏含有塑膠微粒，用來幹嘛？

leave you with that tingly fresh feeling after brushing. The trouble is, some of those

為的是讓你使用完有徹底清新的感覺。而問題在於有些塑膠微粒

beads can end up lodged between your gums and your teeth. No one's sure yet whether

會卡在你的牙齦和牙齒之間。還沒有人能確定

this is a problem.

這是不是個問題

The American Dental Association for instance doesn't think that microbeads

舉例來說，美國牙醫協會不認為塑膠微粒不安全

are unsafe. But they are monitoring the situation. That said, some dental

但是他們仍在觀察。這代表有些專業牙齒護理人員

professionals are worried that, because microbeads stick around for so long,

對此有疑慮，因為塑膠微粒會待在原地非常久，

getting them lodged in your guns could potentially increase the chances of

如果它們卡在你的牙齦，可能會潛在增加罹患如牙齦炎

developing diseases like gingivitis. In the meantime some companies are

等疾病的機率。與此同時，有些公司

phasing out the use of microbeads in toothpaste,

開始調整在牙膏中加入塑膠微粒

though mainly because they'd prefer to play it safe with their customers. The bottom line is there's

雖然主要是因為他們傾向於打安全牌。其實我們對塑膠微粒

a lot we still don't know about the potential risks of microbeads. But given their size,

的潛在風險還有很多不清楚的地方。但是基於它們的大小

persistence, and propensity to soak up toxic chemicals, there's a pretty good

持久不爛還有吸附有毒化學物質的特性，塑膠微粒非常有可能

chance that they'll end up causing harm somewhere. So next time you reach for the

是有害的。所以下次買臉部磨砂膏

facial scrub, or the microbeads soap, you might just spare a thought to future generations,

或是含微粒的香皂時，想想未來世代吧

who are going to have to clean up the mess, that you may just be contributing to.

未來那些要幫你收拾爛攤子的人們

For more information on microbeads, do check out the links in the blurb below.

想知道更多有關於塑膠微粒的資訊嗎？點開下方連結就可以囉

And as always, stay safe.

最後一樣要說：大家保重！