VOA慢速英语-Health Report - New Findings Add to Health Concerns

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Bisphenol A is a chemical widely used to make hard, polycarbonate plastic. Food storage containers, reusable water bottles and baby bottles are among the many different products that may contain BPA. BPA is also commonly used in protective coverings inside metal food and drink cans.

People can swallow small amounts of BPA as they eat or drink. An industry Web site says more than forty years of safety research shows that products made with bisphenol A are safe.

But others question the safety of BPA. Now, a large study has linked it to diabetes¹ and heart disease in adults.
　
Canadian Environment Minister John Baird, left, and Health Minister Tony Clement² hand out baby bottles that are free of BPA. In April, Mister Clement announced Canada's plans to limit use of the chemical.

Researchers divided almost one thousand five hundred American adults into four groups based on BPA levels in their urine. All the levels were within the limits considered safe by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Yet the study found that the highest group was more than twice as likely as the lowest group to have heart disease or diabetes, or both.

The Food and Drug Administration and chemical industry officials said the study does not show that bisphenol A caused the diseases. The researcher who led the study, David Melzer at England's University of Exeter, agrees. He says the findings must be reproduced and that other studies are also needed.

But he also says that if BPA is a cause of these conditions, then just reducing contact with it might prevent some cases. The study appeared last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Earlier this month, United States government scientists from the National Toxicology Program released a final report on BPA. They found that the chemical is of "some concern" for effects on development of the prostate gland³ and brain in fetuses⁴, infants and children. They made the same finding for behavioral effects.

The scientists based their findings mostly on studies of laboratory animals. Even so, the program director said "the possibility that BPA may affect human development cannot be dismissed."

In April, Canada became the first country to propose a ban on plastic baby bottles that contain BPA. The government has said it will publish its final decision by October eighteenth.

Some plastic goods are now being marketed as BPA-free. But some people wonder whether any other chemicals that might take its place are any better.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver⁵. I'm Jim Tedder⁶.

 

1 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

2 clement   

adj.仁慈的；温和的

参考例句：

• A clement judge reduced his sentence.一位仁慈的法官为他减了刑。
• The planet's history contains many less stable and clement eras than the holocene.地球的历史包含着许多不如全新世稳定与温和的地质时期。

3 gland   

n.腺体，(机)密封压盖，填料盖

参考例句：

• This is a snake's poison gland.这就是蛇的毒腺。
• Her mother has an underactive adrenal gland.她的母亲肾上腺机能不全。

4 fetuses   

n.胎，胎儿( fetus的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• DNA was extracted from fetuses at mid-gestation, about 10 days past conception. DNA从受孕大约10天后的中期妊娠胚胎中提取。 来自互联网
• Brucellosis is a disease that causes fetuses to abort in cattle. 普鲁士菌病是一种可以导致牲畜胎儿夭折的疾病。 来自互联网

5 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

6 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网