密歇根新闻广播 全氟烷基磺酸盐的健康风险

There have been more news stories in recent months about water contamination from a group of industrial chemicals. PFAS chemical pollution seems to have come out of nowhere. That's not exactly true. PFAS contamination has been known to be a problem. What's different is we’re discovering the problem is bigger than imagined.

At first, PFAS contamination seemed to be limited to air bases where a firefighting foam¹ known as AFFF was used extensively in training, but chemicals within the PFAS family were also used in all kinds of manufacturing.

The wider story came to light because of a reporter for MLive named Garret Ellison. He'd covered the PFAS contamination story near the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda Township. Then some concerned citizens approached him about the possibility of contamination in Rockford near Grand Rapids.

"The story is essentially² that, 'Hey, there's this Scotchgard chemical and uh, it's getting into the fish right next to the old tannery that, you know, by the way happened to use this stuff," Ellison said as he walked along the Rogue³ River in Rockford.

Scotchgard, made by 3M, was used to waterproof⁴ the Wolverine company's Hush⁵ Puppy line of shoes. Scotchgard is made with a PFAS chemical. The tannery was right next to the Rogue River in downtown Rockford.

Ellison took me to a spot at the river's edge and showed me discarded leather scraps⁶ and shoe heels in the underbrush.

"I found an old rubber shoe sole that said Hush Puppy stamped on the bottom and it's just, you know, sitting here," he said, pointing to scraps of leather still littering the river's edge.

Ellison has written about the scraps a couple of times. He's published photos. There was a cleanup, but scraps can still be found in the underbrush.

Ellison reported on the Wolverine site along the river and another site where leatherscraps were dumped. The private wells in that area are contaminated with PFAS chemicals. Some of them are at much higher levels than the EPA advises. Those stories started to reveal a much larger problem.

"I think that Wolverine is the PFAS story that really got the governor's attention," Ellison said.

After Ellison started reporting on the Wolverine site in Rockford, Governor Rick Snyder assembled MPART, the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team. It's a multi-agency operationthat is now checking water sources for the contaminants.

That investigation⁷ was launched last year, but the Department of Environmental Quality has known about the threat of PFAS chemicals for much longer.

Ellison also discovered that a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality employee wrote a lengthy⁸ report on the possibility of widespread PFAS contamination in 2012.

"You know, it wasn't a systematic⁹ cover up," said David Savitz, an epidemiologist at Brown University who has a background in investigating PFAS contamination. He's now Science Advisor¹⁰ for MPART.

"It wasn't something that was suggested and ignored. It really was just not on people's radar¹¹ screen and once we became aware of it –and that process continues to this day- we keep discovering new sources and new pathways for exposure," he said.

Despite knowing about PFAS health risks, it wasn't thought to be a major issue in Michigan. The chemicals were not being manufactured in Michigan. It's at those plants where PFAS chemicals were first connected to human health problems.

"At first the focus was just on workers who worked with these chemicals and the plants that manufactured them in West Virginia and Minnesota and certain other locations. And it took quite a while to recognize that the uses of these chemicals and the disposals of the chemicals had led to a broader set of problems."

There's another reason we’re hearing more about PFAS contamination.

Politico recently revealed emails from a Trump¹² administration aide trying to block release of a health report on PFAS. That report suggested the current EPA advisory¹³ limit on PFAS in water might be four times too high. Politico reported the aide warned it would cause a "public relations nightmare" if people found out about it.

James Clift at the Michigan Environmental Council says that report the EPA tried to suppress is eye-opening.

"That's where it's really disturbing because this is a report that starts to say, 'Oh, the levels we thought were safe in the past might not be,'" Clift said.

So, the reason we're all suddenly hearing about PFAS contamination in Michigan is because it might be a greater health risk than originally thought. And, the state is alsolooking for PFAS. Expect to hear about more polluted sites before the statewide survey is finished.

1 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

2 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

3 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

4 waterproof   

n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水

参考例句：

• My mother bought me a waterproof watch.我妈妈给我买了一块防水手表。
• All the electronics are housed in a waterproof box.所有电子设备都储放在一个防水盒中。

5 hush   

int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静

参考例句：

• A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
• Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！

6 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

9 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

10 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

11 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

12 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

13 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。