VOA标准英语2014--研究表明非洲铝锅含有铅

 

Study: African Aluminum¹ Pots Contain Lead 研究表明非洲铝锅含有铅

Locally made aluminum pots in Cameroon, and probably in much of Africa, are likely to be contaminated with lead ( (Courtesy: Occupational Knowledge International).

Locally made aluminum pots and pans are very common in Africa and Asia.

But a new study in Cameroon has raised questions about their safety, saying high levels of lead are leaching² from the cookware into food.

The World Health Organization has not posted any regulations regarding lead in cookware, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has said there’s really no safe level of lead exposure.

Ashland University and Occupational Knowledge International conducted the research in Cameroon that appears in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

“I must say we literally³ stumbled upon this," said Perry Gottesfeld, Occupational Knowledge International’s executive director. "We were working in Cameroon for the past four years. We had been doing awareness⁴ sessions and outreach around lead in paint trying to get companies there to reformulate to take out the lead additives⁵ and to get the government to put in regulation. And in the process the question had come up – well, what about the pots?”

The lead awareness campaign was done in partnership⁶ with the Education Center for Development, a Cameroonian NGO.

“Our partners went out and visited where these are made and reported back that, in fact, this is made primarily from scrape metal. And so that of course peaked our interest. And that’s when we decided⁸ to do an investigation⁹ to find out what the levels of lead and other heavy metals were in those pots,” said Gottesfeld.

The researchers wanted to know how much lead was being served with daily meals. Gottesfeld said lead exposure has effects that are both acute and chronic¹⁰.

“We found that the average or median level was about 97 micrograms of lead per serving – serving size being about 250 milliliters. So this is a very high concentration of lead and a type of exposure that people would likely get on a regular, daily basis if using this kind of cookware.”

That’s hundreds of times higher than the level the U.S. State of California has determined¹¹ to be the Maximum Allowable Dose per day.

Gottesfeld said, “In terms of low-level lead health effects that occur on an ongoing¹² basis like this one, we could expect neurological damage that’s manifested in reduced performance in school – reduced IQ – and other learning disabilities. We also know though that it affects the health of an individual throughout their life and does result in higher rates of heart disease and stroke. And it doers result in a very high death rate among populations who are exposed long term.”

He said that there are reports that similar lead levels are found in locally made aluminum cookware in Thailand and Bangladesh. He said taking steps to eliminate the lead-laced pots pose challenges.

“I think the first question we need to ask is how extensive is this problem. But ultimately I think it’s going to require some regulation on the part of government. But also it’s going to require working with these local manufacturers to educate them about the kinds of scrape metal that they should and shouldn’t use in making this kind of cookware.”

He said the scrap⁷ metal could be tested for lead before it’s melted down to make cookware. This could be done with a portable device called X-ray fluorescence, or XRF, which gives results in a matter of seconds. Researchers are considering a pilot project to determine whether on-site testing is feasible in Cameroon.

Another option is to have the cookware manufactured with a process called anodization. It places a coating on aluminum that reduces the amount of lead and other metals leaching into food.

“We know that lead poisoning is a huge problem throughout Africa, but almost all of it goes undetected because there are no facilities to test for blood lead levels in most countries in Africa. So we know that there are literally millions of children and adults, who are overexposed to lead. And they just continue to suffer with these symptoms and they’re often misdiagnosed with some other unrelated disease,” said Gottesfeld.

Occupational Knowledge International recommends that African laboratories have the capacity to conduct tests for blood lead levels. Field tests are also available.

Gottesfeld added that awareness campaigns are needed for those who run the small companies that manufacture the pots.

“We would like to follow-up by doing more outreach and education with these manufacturers so that they better understand the kinds of scrape that contain higher levels of lead and other contaminants. Clearly, if they were using pure aluminum this would not be a problem.”

He said recent surveys in Africa and Asia “suggest blood lead levels have remained stubbornly high despite the ban on lead gasoline in most of the world.”

1 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

2 leaching   

n.滤取，滤去v.（将化学品、矿物质等）过滤( leach的现在分词 )；（液体）过滤，滤去

参考例句：

• The lack of humus and the excessive leaching make this soil almost useless for agricultural purpose. 缺少腐殖质和过度淋滤使这种土壤对农业几乎无用。 来自辞典例句
• The deep oxidation and groundwater leaching solubilizes much of the loosely bound uranium. 深部氧化和地下水淋蚀使大部分固定得比较松散的铀溶解。 来自辞典例句

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

5 additives   

n.添加剂( additive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• chemical additives in petrol 汽油中的化学添加剂
• It'says on the packet that these crisps contain no additives. 包装上说这些炸薯片不含添加剂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

7 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 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。

10 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

11 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

12 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。