大气污染双语新闻

Research in China finds air pollution significantly shortened life expectancy

研究发现：空气污染显著缩短寿命

A new study links heavy air pollution from coal burning to shorter lives in northern China. Researchers estimate that the half-billion people alive there in the 1990s will live an average of 5 years less than their southern counterparts because they breathed dirtier air.

一项新的研究表明由于烧煤引发的严重空气污染将缩短中国北方居民的寿命。研究人员估计，因为呼吸更污浊的空气，上世纪90年代居住于北方的5亿居民要比南部的居民平均少活5年。

China itself made the comparison possible: for decades, a now-discontinued government policy provided free coal for heating, but only in the colder north. Researchers found significant differences in both particle pollution of the air and life expectancy in the two regions, and said the results could be used to extrapolate the effects of such pollution on lifespans elsewhere in the world.

中国可以用自身来做一个比较：几十年来，国家政策只允许给寒冷的北方地区提供免费的煤燃料供暖，现在这项政策已经被废止。研究人员发现，在南北两个地区，空气中颗粒物污染和人们的预期寿命都存在显著差异，而且研究结果可以用来推断在世界其他地方这种污染对寿命的影响。

The study by researchers from China, Israel and the United States was published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

这项研究由来自中国，以色列和美国的研究人员共同完成，并于周二发表在《美国国家科学院院刊》上。

While previous studies have found that pollution affects human health, “the deeper and ultimately more important question is the impact on life expectancy,” said one of the authors, Michael Greenstone, a professor of environmental economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

虽然之前的研究发现，污染会影响人体健康，但是“更深层和根本上更重要的问题是对预期寿命的影响。”该项研究的作者之一，麻省理工学院环境经济学教授迈克尔·格林斯通说。

“This study provides a unique setting to answer the life expectancy question because t he (heating) policy dramatically alters pollution concentrations for people who appear to be of otherwise identical health,” Greenstone said in an email. “Further, due to the low rates of migration in China in this period, we can know people’s exposure over long time periods,” he said.

“这项研究为回答有关寿命的问题提供了一个独特的情境，因为（供暖）政策极大地改变了看似健康状况相同的人生存环境的污染浓度，”格林斯通在一封电子邮件中说道，“此外，由于中国在此期间的低迁移率，我们就可以知道，人们长期以来都是暴露在一定污染浓度的环境中。”

The policy gave free coal for fuel boilers to heat homes and offices to cities north of the Huai River, which divides China into north and south. It was in effect for much of the 1950-1980 period of central planning, and, though discontinued after 1980, it has left a legacy in the north of heavy coal burning, which releases particulate pollutants into the air that can harm human health. Researchers found no other government policies that treated China’s north differently from the south.

因淮河为中国区分南北的界限，故之前的政策为中国淮河以北城市的家庭和办公室提供免费的煤燃料锅炉供暖。该政策在中央计划的1950年-1980年期间开始实行，虽然在1980年后被废止，但大量的煤燃烧却给北方的空气留下了危害人体健康的颗粒污染物。研究人员并没有发现其他不同对待中国南北部的政策。

The researchers collected data for 90 cities, from 1981 to 2000, on the annual daily average concentration of total suspended particulates. In China, those are considered to be particles that are 100 micrometers or less in diameter, emitted from sources including power stations, construction sites and vehicles.

研究人员收集了90个城市多年总悬浮微粒日平均浓度的数据，时间跨度从1981年到2000年。在中国，悬浮微粒被认为是指由包括发电厂、建筑工地和车辆发出的，直径小于或等于100微米的粒子。The researchers estimated the impact on life expectancies using mortality data from 1991-2000. They found that in the north, the concentration of particulates was 184 micrograms per cubic

meter ― or 55 percent ― high er than in the south, and life expectancies were 5.5 years lower on average across all age ranges.

研究人员通过1991年-2000年的死亡率数据来估计对预期寿命的影响。他们发现，在北方，微粒的浓度为每立方米184微克——比南部数据高55%，而且在所有年龄段的平均预期寿命比南方短5.5年。

The researchers said the difference in life expectancies was almost entirely due to an increased incidence of deaths classified as cardiorespiratory ― those from causes that have previously been linked to air quality, including heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and respiratory illnesses.

研究人员说，预期寿命的差异几乎完全是由于心肺死亡类疾病的发生率增加——这些通常被人们认为是空气质量导致的疾病包括心脏病、中风、肺癌和呼吸系统疾病。

Total suspended particulates include fine particulate matter called PM2.5 ― particles with diameters of no more than 2.5 micrometers. PM2.5 is of especially great health concern because it can penetrate deep into the lungs, but the researchers lacked the data to analyze those tiny particles separately.

总悬浮粒子包括被称为PM2.5的细颗粒物，即直径不超过2.5微米的颗粒。因为它可以渗透到肺部深处，PM2.5引起人们对健康的极大担忧，但研究人员缺乏数据来单独分析这些微小颗粒的实际影响。The authors said their research can be used to estimate the effect of total suspended particulates on other countries and time periods. Their analysis suggests that every additional 100 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter in the atmosphere lowers life expectancy at birth by about three years.

该项研究的作者还说，他们的研究可以用来估计总悬浮微粒对其他国家和时段的影响。他们的分析表明，大气中每立方米每增加100微克的颗粒物，则降低出生时3年左右的预期寿命。

The study also noted that there was a large difference in particulate matter between the north and south, but not in other forms of air pollution such as sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide.

该研究还指出，南北之间在颗粒物上有很大的差异，但在其他形式的空气污染，如二氧化硫和氮氧化物上并没有这种差异。

Francesca Dominici, a professor of biostatistics at Harvard School of Public Health who has researched the health effects of fine particulate matter in the U.S., said the study was “fascinating.”弗朗西斯卡·多米尼西认为这项研究“有着巨大吸引力”。身为哈佛大学公共卫生学院的生物统计学教授，多米尼西在美国研究细颗粒物对健康的影响。

China’s different treatment of north and south allowed researchers to get pollution data that would be impossible in a scientific setting.

中国南北方受到的不同对待使得研究人员能够获取到不可能在任何科学场景中得到的污染数据。Dominici said the quasi-experimental approach was a good approximation of a randomized experiment, “especially in this situation where a randomized experiment is not possible.”

多米尼西说准实验法是近似一个随机实验的很好方法，“尤其是在这种不可能做随机实验的情况下。”She said she wasn’t surprised by the findings, given China’s high levels of pollution.

她说，考虑到中国的高污染水平，她对调查结果并不感到惊讶。

“In the U.S. I think it’s pretty much been accepted that even small changes in PM2.5, much, much, much smaller than what they are observing in China, are affecting life expectancy,” sai d Dominici, who was not involved in the study.

“在美国，我想，哪怕PM2.5的数值发生很小的变化，远远小于他们在中国观测到的数据，大部分人也会认为这影响到人们的预期寿命。”并没有参与这项研究的多米尼西说道。

专业点的：呼吸雾霾会加快动脉硬化引发中风（双语新闻）

Breathing particulate-laden (aka smoggy) air may behardening your arteries faster than normal, acco rding to research publishedtoday in PLOS Medicine. While everyones’ arteries harden gradually with age, ateam of researchers led by epidemiologist Sara Adar of the University ofMichigan School of Public Health discovered that higher concentrations of fineparticulate air pollution were linked to a faster thickening of the inner twolayers of the carotid artery。

Because the carotid artery feeds blood to the neck, head, and brain, a narrowing or blockage there can trigger strokes. And general atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, heart attack, and heart failure。

Past research has demonstrated that the rates of strokeand heart attack are higher in polluted areas, but experts haven’t been able topinpoint just how polluted air is raising peoples’risk for heart attack or stroke. This time, Adar’s team, al ong with JoelKaufman, professor of environmental and occupational health sciences andmedicine at the University of Washington, was able to directly measure carotidartery thickness and link it to air pollution data。

The study involved 5,362 people between the ages of 45 and 84 living in six different cities that are part of the MESA AIR (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution) research project, led by Joel Kaufman. Each participant underwent two carotid artery ultrasounds three years apart. These measurements were then correlated with data on fine particulate air pollution。

While the artery walls of all participants increased by 14 micrometers per year, the arteries of those who were exposed to higher levels of fine particulate air pollution in their homes thickened faster than their neighbors in other parts of the city。

Interestingly, the researchers also found the reverse effect to be true: reducing fine particulate air pollution levels slowed down atherosclerosis progression. Carotid artery measurements are considered by experts to be an indicator for arterial plaque and hardening throughout the body。

根据今日发表在《公共科学图书馆?医学》杂志上的研究，呼吸含大量颗粒物的(雾霾)空气可能会让你的动脉硬化速度加快。尽管每个人的动脉都会随着年龄增大而逐渐硬化，但密歇根大学公共卫生学院的流行病学家萨拉?阿达领导的研究团队发现，空气中的细微颗粒污染物浓度升高与颈动脉内膜和中膜增厚加快有关。

由于颈动脉要向颈部、头部和大脑供血，颈动脉变窄或堵塞可能会引发中风。通常动脉硬化是冠心病、心脏病发作和心力衰竭的主要风险因素。

以往的研究已经表明，在受污染地区中风和心脏病发作的几率更高，但专家还未能查明空气污染是如何提高人们心脏病或中风发作的风险的。这次阿达带领的团队和华盛顿大学环境与职业健康科

学和医学专业的教授乔尔?考夫曼联手合作，已经能够直接测量颈动脉厚度，并将其和空气污染数据联系起来。

乔尔?考夫曼领导的这一动脉硬化和空气污染多种族研究项目调查了居住在6个不同城市、年龄在45岁到84岁之间的5362个人。每个参与者隔三年都要做一次颈动脉超声波检查。研究人员把这些测量结果和细颗粒物空气污染的数据联系起来。

尽管所有参与者的动脉壁每年都会增厚14微米，但那些家周边空气中细颗粒污染物水平更高的人动脉壁比住在同城其他地区的人增厚速度更快。

有趣的是，研究人员还发现反之亦然：降低空气中的细颗粒污染物水平会减慢动脉硬化的速度。专家认为颈动脉的测量数据是动脉斑块和周身硬化的指示标志。

世界卫生组织：空气污染致癌Air pol lution causes cancer, WHO concl udes

Fresh air polluted by exhaust fumes and industrial emissions causes lung cancer, a team of World Health Organisation experts has officially declared.

Outdoor air pollution was officially classified as carcinogenic to humans by the cancer arm of the WHO after a review of the latest scientific evidence from around the world.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) also highlighted an apparent link between air pollution and an increased risk of bladder cancer, although the findings were less conclusive.

Levels of pollution vary widely between urban and rural areas, but the working group said their findings applied to all regions of the worl d, and sent a “strong signal” to governments to tackle the problem immediately.

Dr Kurt Straif, head of the IARC Monographs Section which identifies environmental causes of cancer, said: “The air we br eathe has become polluted with a mixture of cancer-causing substances.

“We now know that outdoor air pollution is not only a major risk to health in general, but also a leading environmental cause of cancer deaths.”

The latest available data suggest that in 2010, air pollution was responsible for the deaths of 223,000 lung cancer patients around the world.

Scientists from the IARC studied more than 1,000 academic papers on polluted air and, separately, small particles found in polluted air.

They found that the risk of developing lung cancer rises in tandem with increasing levels of either, concluding for the first time that outdoor air pollution is a cause of cancer.

Prof David Phillips of King’s College London, a member of the working group, said there was no particular threshold at which pollution becomes dangerous. “The higher the pollution, the greater the cancer risk,” he explained. “It does not suddenly kick in at a particular level.”

The programme had previously classed a variety of individual chemicals and mixtures found in polluted air as carcinogens, such as diesel engine exhaust, solvents, metals, and dusts.

Dr Dana Loomis, deputy head of the IARC monographs section, explained: “Our task was to evaluate the air everyone breathes rather than focus on specific air pollutants.

“The results from the reviewed studies point in the same direction: the risk of developing lung cancer is significantly increased in people exposed to air pollution.”

Although the findings do not come as a surprise, they are likely to significantly increase the pressure on governments around the world to tackle pollution, which has risen rapidly around the world during industrialisation and was already known to raise the risk of conditions like heart and respiratory diseases.

Traffic, power stations, industrial and agricultural emissions, and cooking and heating in the home are the main causes of air pollution.

Dr Christopher Wild, director of the IARC, said: “Classifying outdoor air pollution as carcinogenic to humans is an important step. There are effective ways to reduce air pollution and, given the scale of the exposure affecting people worldwide, this report should send a strong signal to the international community to take action without further delay.”

据英国《每日电讯报》报道，世界卫生组织的专家们正式宣布，被汽车尾气和工业废气污染的空气会导致肺癌。

世界卫生组织回顾了来自世界各地的最新证据后，正式将户外空气污染定为致癌物质。

国际癌症研究机构也强调了空气污染和膀胱癌发病率增加的明显关联，虽然还未被确定。

都市和乡村的污染程度有很大的不同，但是研究组人员称他们的结果是来自全球所有区域的，并且极力要求各个政府尽快解决这个问题。

库尔特?斯特莱夫博士是国际癌症研究机构专论部的领导者，这个部门专门识别导致癌症的环境因素。他说：“我们呼吸的空气已被一种混合的致癌物质所污染。”

“现在我们知道户外空气污染不但是对健康不利的主要因素，而且是癌症死亡的主要环境因素。”

最新的数据表明，在2010年，空气污染造成全世界22.3万人死于肺癌。

国际癌症研究机构的科学家们研究了1000多份空气污染的学术报告，分别在被污染的空气中找到了小颗粒物。

他们发现患肺癌的风险与空气污染的增加是有关的，首次证明户外空气污染是癌症的诱因。

伦敦国王学院的戴维?菲利普斯教授是工作组的成员之一。他说没有特定的临界值可以判定污染到达什么水平才算危险。“污染指数越高，患癌症的风险越大，”他解释说。“它不会突然达到一个特定的水平。”

该计划曾将一些单独的化学物质和受污染空气中的混合物归类于致癌物质，如柴油机排气，溶剂，金属和灰尘。

国际癌症研究机构专论部副主任达纳?卢米斯博士解释说：“我们的任务是评估每个人呼吸的空气而不是关注特定的空气污染物。”

“从相同方向研究的结果表明：患肺癌的风险对于暴露于空气污染中的人们来说正显著增加。”

虽然研究结果并不让人感到惊讶，但他们可能会对世界各国政府在解决污染的问题上施加压力。这些污染在全球工业化期间迅速飙升，人们也已知它们会提高患心脏病和呼吸疾病的风险。

交通、电力站、工业和农业的排污，家庭做饭和供暖是空气污染的主要原因。

克里斯托弗?怀尔德博士是IARC的主任，他说：“将室外空气污染归类为致癌物对人类来说是一个重要的步骤。我们有许多有效的方法来减少空气污染。考虑到空气污染范围影响着全球人民，这个报告应该向国际社会发出强烈信号，让他们立即采取行动。”