美国国家公共电台 NPR Is All That Wildfire Smoke Damaging My Lungs?

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Right now in Your Health, we'll examine a different natural phenomenon that's engulfing¹ the northwest of the country. That would be forest fires. It's an unusually bad wildfire season, and for weeks people have been breathing in air thick with smoke. NPR's Jane Greenhalgh reports from Portland, Ore.

JANE GREENHALGH, BYLINE²: A thick, smoky haze³ descended⁴ across the city last week, the result of a huge forest fire that's burning a few miles away in the Columbia Gorge⁵. It sent a cloud of ash over the entire region.

TUCKER MACLARAN: My lungs have been really sore. It's hard to breathe. It smells like we're in a campfire. (Laughter).

GREENHALGH: Tucker Maclaran is biking on the city's waterfront. She's wearing a face mask.

MACLARAN: It's hot and sticky, and really chemical-y (ph) and gross.

GREENHALGH: But is her mask doing any good?

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Step all the way inside. Move all the way forward.

GREENHALGH: To get the answer to that and some other health questions, I'm taking Portland's sky tram...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: You can move up a little bit up, please.

GREENHALGH: ...Up to Oregon Health and Science University. It's perched on the top of a hill.

GOPAL ALLADA: My name is Gopal Allada. I'm a pulmonary and critical care physician.

GREENHALGH: So basically, lungs are your specialty⁶.

ALLADA: Lungs are my specialty.

GREENHALGH: From the top of the tram, the problem is obvious.

ALLADA: This haze represents a lot of ambient smoke particles and particulate⁷ that's just hitting our lungs, hitting our nose and causing problems.

GREENHALGH: Burning eyes, sore throat, headaches, even a little nausea⁸. According to Oregon's Department of Environmental Quality, there's no good air anywhere in the Pacific Northwest, and conditions are similar in parts of Idaho, California and Montana. Allada says the biggest hazard to our lungs is not the ash, but tiny, microscopic⁹ particles.

ALLADA: Larger particles actually tend to get lodged¹⁰ in your nose, in your throat and can cause irritating symptoms but won't cause the respiratory symptoms that the fine particulate matter can.

GREENHALGH: For most healthy people, these conditions are unpleasant, but for people with heart conditions or respiratory illnesses it can be a real problem. The elderly, children whose lungs are still developing also need to be extra careful, as do pregnant women. Which means, if you can, stay inside.

ALLADA: Close all windows and doors unless it's really hot, and using the recirculate air button on your - either your car or on your air conditioner so that you're not continually bringing in new particulate matter.

GREENHALGH: Paper masks don't do much good. An N95 mask will offer some protection, but only if it's properly fitted. But if you're worried about long-term damage, Dr. Ann Thomas of the Oregon Health Authority says most people shouldn't be.

ANN THOMAS: I don't want to downplay the significance of the symptoms that many of us are feeling, but the good news is that they do go away. They'll resolve quickly even if it is something that persists for, you know, days to weeks, unless you're in one of these - these high-risk groups.

GREENHALGH: If you are high-risk, you might want to buy a high-efficiency particulate air filter, avoid burning candles, frying meat, even vacuuming, which can add more tiny particles to the air. Jane Greenhalgh, NPR News, Portland.

1 engulfing   

adj.吞噬的v.吞没，包住( engulf的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A photographer had fused the lights,engulfing the entire house darkness. 一位摄影师把电灯的保险丝烧断了，使整栋房子陷于黑暗当中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A professional photographer had fused the lights,engulfing the entire house in darkness. 一位职业摄影师把保险丝烧断了使整所房子陷于黑暗当中。 来自辞典例句

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

4 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

5 gorge   

n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃

参考例句：

• East of the gorge leveled out.峡谷东面地势变得平坦起来。
• It made my gorge rise to hear the news.这消息令我作呕。

6 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

7 particulate   

adj.微小的；n.微粒，粒子

参考例句：

• A special group was organized to dig up the particulate of the case.成立了一个专门小组来查明该案件的各个细节。
• Lungs retain relatively insoluble particulate material.肺脏内留有不溶解的颗粒物质。

8 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

9 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

10 lodged   

v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属

参考例句：

• The certificate will have to be lodged at the registry. 证书必须存放在登记处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Our neighbours lodged a complaint against us with the police. 我们的邻居向警方控告我们。 来自《简明英汉词典》