New research shows that some plastics may be leaching toxic chemicals into seawater.

    新研究表明有些塑料可能把有毒化學物滲入到海水。

    Plastic Not Fantastic… in the Ocean

    The Great Pacific Garbage Patch may be disappearing, and not in a good way. New research presented at the biannual meeting of the American Chemical Society reveals that polystyrene actually can break down in seawater.

    Polystyrene is better known as Styrofoam, wads of which can be found on seashores and floating out to sea. Most scientists assumed it would linger forever but apparently, when exposed to sunlight and rain, Styrofoam breaks down into its constituents, most notably three chemicals known to cause cancer.

    Japanese chemists found traces of these chemicals in samples of seawater from across the Pacific.

    They also found bisphenol A, or BPA, which is another chemical that leaches from some plastics. BPA has been linked to human health impacts, such as heart disease, as well as developmental and reproductive disorders in animals.

    Of course, these chemicals are diluted almost beyond detection by the vastness of the sea and not all plastics are exposed to strong sunlight or warm waters. But it's clear that the millions of tons of plastic pollution building up in the world's oceans are up to no good.

    在海洋中
，塑料可不是什麼好東西

    太平洋垃圾島（Great Pacific Garbage Patch）可能會消失，不過其消失的方式並不那麼環保。在美國化學學會（American Chemical Society）一年兩度的會議上，一項新的研究顯示聚苯乙烯實際上在海水中能降解。

    renmengengduodeshihouchengjubenyixiweipaomosuliao，nikeyizaihaibianfaxiandaliangdepaomosuliao，tamenhuibeichongjindahaizhong。duoshudekexuejiarenweipaomosuliaojianghuiyongyuancunzai，danshihenxianran，dangbaoluzaiyangguangxiaheyushuizhong，paomosuliaofenjiechengtadezuchengchengfen，zhidezhuyideshi

，yousanzhonghuaxuechengfennengzhiai。

    日本化學家在整個太平洋的海水樣品中發現了恒量的這些致癌化學物質。他們也發現了雙份A（簡稱BPA）,這是從塑料中滲出的另外一種化學物質。BPA能影響人類的健康，比如心髒病以及動物的發展和生殖疾病。

    當dang然ran，由you於yu大da量liang海hai水shui的de稀xi釋shi
，要yao檢jian測ce出chu這zhe些xie化hua學xue物wu質zhi幾ji乎hu不bu可ke能neng，同tong時shi也ye不bu是shi所suo有you的de塑su料liao都dou暴bao露lu於yu強qiang光guang下xia和he溫wen水shui中zhong。但dan是shi很hen顯xian然ran海hai洋yang中zhong大da量liang塑su料liao汙wu染ran的de堆dui積ji肯ken定ding不bu是shi什shen麼me好hao事shi。

    Vocabulary:

    Leach:過濾
；滲入

；

    Toxic:有毒的

    Biannual:一年兩度的

    Fantastic:極好的

    Reveal: 揭示

    Polystyrene: （化學術語）聚苯乙烯

    Styrofoam: 泡沫塑料

    Wad:捆；遝；卷

    Linger:逗留

    Constituent:組成成分

    Trace:（化學術語）恒量

    Bisphenol:（化學術語）雙酚A

    Developmental:發展的

    Reproductive:生殖的

    Dilute:稀釋

    Detection:檢測

    Vastness:巨大；大量