塑料為人類帶來了很多便利，我們現(xiàn)在早已習(xí)慣了用塑料，穿塑料，玩塑料，吃……塑料。沒錯，我們幾乎每天都在吃塑料。

[Photo/Pexels]

Microplastics are “one of the greatest manmade disasters of our time”, according to the Natural History Museum. That’s bad news, given they are also everywhere; in tap water, the food you buy, the clothes you wear and the air you breathe.

倫敦自然歷史博物館認(rèn)為，微塑料是“這個時代最大的人造災(zāi)難之一”。這是個壞消息，因為微塑料無處不在；它存在于在自來水里，你買的食物，你穿的衣服，你呼吸的空氣中。

The largest microplastics can be seen by the naked eye and are anything under half a centimetre in size. But many of them are small enough to act like specks of dust which we can inadvertently breathe in or eat in food. The smallest particles are called nanoplastics and they are small enough to get their way deep into the human body.

最大的微塑料肉眼可見，大小不足0.5厘米。但許多微塑料都很小，小到像灰塵一樣可以在不經(jīng)意間被我們吸入或和食物一起吃下去。最小的塑料顆粒被稱為納米塑料，它們小到可以深入人體。

New findings from the University of Portsmouth show that there is so much synthetic material in our homes that we might be breathing in up to 7,000 microplastic particles a day. Using specialist equipment, they measured a typical family home and found the highest concentration of it was in the bedroom of the eight-year-old daughter, whose room was decorated with plastic-based bedding, carpet and soft toys.

英國樸茨茅斯大學(xué)的新發(fā)現(xiàn)表明，我們的家中有太多合成材料，我們每天可能會吸入多達(dá)7000個微塑粒子。研究人員使用專業(yè)設(shè)備測量了一個典型家庭住宅，發(fā)現(xiàn)其中微塑料最集中的地方是8歲女兒的臥室，她的房間擺放著塑料床墊、地毯和毛絨玩具。

Note:

Synthetic 人造的；（人工）合成的

Although research is in its infancy, the risks of these plastics could be serious – some studies have linked high exposure to cancer risk and disrupting our hormones. In animal studies, the particles have been shown to affect metabolism, gut bacteria and the immune system, among other things.

盡管研究還處于起步階段，但微塑料的危害可能很大——一些研究表明，微塑料與高患癌風(fēng)險和擾亂人體激素有關(guān)。在動物研究中，微塑料已被證明會影響新陳代謝、腸道細(xì)菌和免疫系統(tǒng)等。

Note:

metabolism 新陳代謝

It is not yet known what a healthy level of microplastics might look like, but Dr Sabine Donnai, CEO of the Viavi clinic, is adamant that many people in the West are over the threshold. In tests at her clinic, patients often come back with dangerously high levels of plastic in their bodies, she says.

目前，我們還不知道人體內(nèi)微塑料的健康水平是多少，但Viavi診所首席執(zhí)行官薩賓·多奈博士堅信，許多西方人已經(jīng)超過了安全線。多奈表示，在她的診所進(jìn)行的測試中，患者體內(nèi)的塑料含量往往處于較高的危險值。

微塑料幾乎無處不在，食物、飲用水、化妝品、生活用品中都有微塑料。從現(xiàn)代生活里消除塑料幾乎是不可能的，但我們?nèi)匀豢梢圆扇∫恍┐胧﹣肀M量減小微塑料的攝入。

1 Avoiding reheating takeaway food in plastic boxes

避免將外賣裝在塑料盒中重新加熱

Any time plastic containers are heated, chemical changes in the material mean it can leach microparticles into your food. If you can’t avoid the takeaway boxes, try not to reheat food in them when having leftovers. Instead, decant them to a plate.每當(dāng)塑料容器被加熱時，材料發(fā)生的化學(xué)變化意味著會有微粒子滲入到食物中。如果你無法避免使用外賣盒，那么吃剩飯時盡量不要在外賣盒里加熱，而是應(yīng)該倒進(jìn)盤子里。

2 Using a glass water bottle instead of a plastic one

用玻璃水瓶代替塑料水瓶

Canadian research from 2019 found that bottled water contains 22 times more microplastics than tap water, meaning someone who exclusively drinks bottled water would imbibe 130,000 more particles a year, compared to 4,000 from tap water.

2019年加拿大的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，瓶裝水中的微塑料含量是自來水的22倍，這意味著只飲用瓶裝水的人每年會吸收超過13萬個微塑料粒子，而飲用自來水的人吸收的微塑料粒子數(shù)量為4000個。

She recommends using a glass bottle when you’re on the go, and filling it with water that has gone through a reverse osmosis filter, which can help to remove the microplastics in tap water.她建議外出時攜帶玻璃瓶，并裝入經(jīng)過反滲透過濾器的水，這有助于去除自來水中的微塑料。

[Photo/Pexels]

3 Avoiding using cling film on hot food

避免在熱食物上包裹保鮮膜

“Cling film is bad: never microwave it or put it on hot food,” says Donnai.多奈表示：“保鮮膜不健康：千萬不要用微波爐加熱或放在熱的食物上。”

4 Using metal or glass coffee cups

使用金屬或玻璃咖啡杯

The heat of the coffee will encourage the plastic to leach into your drink. Instead, bring a reusable glass cup for takeaways or consider drinking your coffee in a cafe.

咖啡的熱度會讓塑料滲入你的飲料中?？梢詭б粋€可重復(fù)使用的玻璃杯，或者考慮在咖啡館喝咖啡。

5 Swapping plastic baby bottles for glass versions

將塑料嬰兒奶瓶換成玻璃瓶

To reduce your baby’s exposure, you could think about swapping plastic baby bottles for glass versions. Alternatively, you could use other methods to sterilize that don’t involve heating, like UV light sterilization machines or with sterilizing powder or tablets.為了減少寶寶接觸微塑料，你可以考慮將塑料嬰兒奶瓶換成玻璃奶瓶。或者，也可以使用其他不需要加熱的方法給奶瓶消毒，比如紫外線消毒機或使用消毒粉或消毒片。

6 Stopping chewing on the end of pens

停止啃咬筆頭

Donnai also suggests looking at other sources of plastic in your children’s lives, including baby chewing toys or dummies which are particularly harmful because they go in the mouth. Similarly, she recommends that adults stop chewing on the end of pens.多奈還建議尋找孩子在生活中接觸到的其他塑料來源，包括嬰兒咀嚼玩具或橡皮奶嘴，這些物件會進(jìn)入口腔，因此尤其有害。同樣，她建議成年人停止咬筆的末端。