VOA慢速英语--随着加州野火摧毁城镇 健康威胁也随之出现

As Wildfires Destroy Towns, Health Threats Arise

The Camp Fire was the most destructive wildfire in California history. The fire began in early November 2018 and lasted three weeks. It spread uncontrollably from the forest into the town of Paradise and burned down the whole town.

Soon after, researcher Keith Bein made attempts to study the fire’s toxic¹ effects. Little is known about toxic chemicals released when a whole town burns.

Last fall, Bein drove around 160 kilometers from his laboratory at the University of California, Davis, to the town of Paradise. It was his second attempt to enter the area in hopes of studying the fire’s effects. But police refused to let him to enter. Only emergency responders and news reporters were permitted.

Public safety agencies have not yet established rules that say whether scientists are permitted into the restricted areas.

Fires like the Camp Fire burn thousands of kilograms of wires, plastic pipes and building materials. They leave behind dangerous chemicals in the air, soil and water. Things like lead paint and burned asbestos add to the danger, public health experts say.

Bein’s experience of being turned away points to the problems of studying the health effects of massive disasters like wildfires and hurricanes. Scientists agree that both are becoming more common because of climate change.

Irva Hertz-Picciotto is director of the Environmental Health Sciences Center at the University of California, Davis, or UC Davis.

She told the Reuters news agency, “Everything that we’re doing, it feels like this is a question nobody has asked before. And we have no answers.”

The UC Davis researchers are examining soil from neighborhoods that burned during the Tubbs Fire of 2017.

The Tubbs Fire did its greatest damage to the city of Santa Rosa in northern California. Hertz-Picciotto said the researchers will compare soil from that area to soil from nearby land where only trees burned.

In the study, researchers have already found nearly 2,000 more chemical compounds in the soil from more affected² areas than in soil from a nearby park. They are now working to identify the compounds.

For many years, scientists have studied the effects of wildfires on air, soil and nearby environments. But fires that go from the forest into large city areas used to be very rare.

Collective research

As natural disasters increase in size and frequency, American public health researchers are quickly developing new study areas.

For example, researchers are studying the health of pregnant women who were exposed to polluted air and water after Hurricane Harvey hit Houston in 2017. They are also studying the health of Puerto Ricans who stayed in their damaged homes after Hurricane Maria struck the island in 2017. Many of the homes developed fungi³ and mold.

Some of the studies are being financed by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, or NIEHS.

Aubrey Miller⁴ is the top medical adviser⁵ at NIEHS. She said it is important to quickly learn about health risks to populations after disasters happen. So NIEHS has tried to reduce its approval time for financing research.

Searching Paradise

On a recent morning, teams from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, searched through Paradise. They put burned paint cans, partly melted pesticide⁶ containers and other objects onto trucks for removal.

Rusty⁷ Harris Bishop⁸ is a toxics⁹ expert with the EPA. He worked on the Paradise cleanup. Bishop said removal teams take away whatever contaminants they find. But such cleanup measures are changing along with the public health science, he said.

Bein now plans to train as a firefighter in order to gain entrance into burned areas following the next big wildfire. He said that, as these types of fires become more common, “we really need to know how this is going to affect health.”

I’m Jonathan Evans. And I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

toxic - adj. containing poisonous substances; poisonous

lead - n. a heavy and soft metal that has a gray color

asbestos - n. a soft gray mineral that does not burn, that was used especially as a building material in the past, and that can cause serious diseases of the lungs when people breathe its dust

compound - n. a substance created when the atoms of two or more chemical elements join together

backyard - n. the general area near and around someone's home

pesticide - n. a chemical that is used to kill animals or insects that damage plants or crops

contaminant - n. something that makes a place or a substance such as water, air, or food no longer suitable for use

1 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 fungi   

n.真菌，霉菌

参考例句：

• Students practice to apply the study of genetics to multicellular plants and fungi.学生们练习把基因学应用到多细胞植物和真菌中。
• The lawn was covered with fungi.草地上到处都是蘑菇。

4 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

5 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

6 pesticide   

n.杀虫剂，农药

参考例句：

• The pesticide was spread over the vegetable plot.菜田里撒上了农药。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields.这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。

7 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

8 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

9 toxics   

n.毒物（toxic的复数形式）

参考例句：

• Corrosives are generally toxic, so follow the precautions cited in the following section on toxics. 腐蚀剂一般来说是有毒的，所以请遵守下文关于毒品的防范措施。 来自互联网
• Objective To evaluate the diagnostic methods and treatment of gastric ulcer perforating with toxics tubular necrosis. 目的探讨胃溃疡穿孔合并中毒性肾小管坏死的诊断方法与治疗方案。 来自互联网