VOA慢速英语2014 电子烟更安全,但并不是零风险

 

E-Cigarettes Safer, But Not Risk Free 电子烟更安全,但并不是零风险

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

Cigarette smoking kills.  That we know.  So, manufacturers made electronic cigarettes as a safer smoking choice - safer than tobacco. 

E-cigarettes contain the drug nicotine¹ like cigarettes.  But they do not use tobacco. And you do not light them.  They are powered by battery.

So, if e-cigarettes are so safe, why have poison control centers around the United States seen an increase in telephone calls about e-cigarette poisonings?

The answer is children. 

Most of the calls are from people worried about children who have played with the devices.  In the period of one month this year, the United States Centers for Disease Control say 215 people called the Center with e-cigarette concerns.  More than half of these calls were for children ages five and younger.  The devices apparently² had made them sick.

Tim McAfee is director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health.  He says the problem is regulation.  Meaning, the U.S. federal government does not control e-cigarettes even though they contain liquid nicotine.  Mr. McAfee adds that liquid nicotine is a well-known danger.

“Nicotine historically has been used as a pesticide³ in the United States. And that’s where we have really had for many, many decades significant poisonings when people got exposed to nicotine that was in liquid solutions.”

Mr. McAfee explains that nicotine poisoning happens when the substance gets into the skin, gets into the eyes or is swallowed.  Even a small amount, he says, can make a person sick.

Nicotine poisoning can cause stomach pain or a sense of unbalance. Headaches and seizures⁴ are also common signs of nicotine poisoning.  And too much nicotine can kill.

Tim McAfee says e-cigarettes do not create the level of risk to people that tobacco products do.  He notes that almost 500,000 Americans die each year from cigarettes.

“So, cigarettes are the winner in that contest.  And we don’t really know what’s going to happen with e-cigarettes.”

E-cigarettes do not contain hundreds of harmful chemicals that are found in real cigarettes.  So, the U.S. Surgeon General has suggested that e-cigarettes may be a useful tool for adults trying end their tobacco use, or quit.

But McAfee worries that teenagers may think electronic cigarettes are harmless.  They could become addicted⁵, or hooked, on the nicotine and then start smoking real cigarettes.  In other words, he fears that for young people fake e-cigarettes could be a “gateway” to the real thing.

And that the Health Report.  I’m Anna Matteo.

1 nicotine   

n.(化)尼古丁，烟碱

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily.许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily.许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 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。

4 seizures   

n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物

参考例句：

• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因，有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句

5 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。