塑料为人类带来了很多便利，我们现在早已习惯了用塑料，穿塑料，玩塑料，吃……塑料。没错，我们几乎每天都在吃塑料。
[Photo/Pexels]
Microplastics are “one of the greatest manmade disasters of our time”, according to the Natural History Museum. That’s bad news, given they are also everywhere; in tap water, the food you buy, the clothes you wear and the air you breathe.
伦敦自然历史博物馆认为，微塑料是“这个时代最大的人造灾难之一”。这是个坏消息，因为微塑料无处不在；它存在于在自来水里，你买的食物，你穿的衣服，你呼吸的空气中。
The largest microplastics can be seen by the naked eye and are anything under half a centimetre in size. But many of them are small enough to act like specks of dust which we can inadvertently breathe in or eat in food. The smallest particles are called nanoplastics and they are small enough to get their way deep into the human body.
最大的微塑料肉眼可见，大小不足0.5厘米。但许多微塑料都很小，小到像灰尘一样可以在不经意间被我们吸入或和食物一起吃下去。最小的塑料颗粒被称为纳米塑料，它们小到可以深入人体。
New findings from the University of Portsmouth show that there is so much synthetic material in our homes that we might be breathing in up to 7,000 microplastic particles a day. Using specialist equipment, they measured a typical family home and found the highest concentration of it was in the bedroom of the eight-year-old daughter, whose room was decorated with plastic-based bedding, carpet and soft toys.
英国朴茨茅斯大学的新发现表明，我们的家中有太多合成材料，我们每天可能会吸入多达7000个微塑粒子。研究人员使用专业设备测量了一个典型家庭住宅，发现其中微塑料最集中的地方是8岁女儿的卧室，她的房间摆放着塑料床垫、地毯和毛绒玩具。
Note:
Synthetic 人造的；（人工）合成的
Although research is in its infancy, the risks of these plastics could be serious – some studies have linked high exposure to cancer risk and disrupting our hormones. In animal studies, the particles have been shown to affect metabolism, gut bacteria and the immune system, among other things.
尽管研究还处于起步阶段，但微塑料的危害可能很大——一些研究表明，微塑料与高患癌风险和扰乱人体激素有关。在动物研究中，微塑料已被证明会影响新陈代谢、肠道细菌和免疫系统等。
Note:
metabolism 新陈代谢
It is not yet known what a healthy level of microplastics might look like, but Dr Sabine Donnai, CEO of the Viavi clinic, is adamant that many people in the West are over the threshold. In tests at her clinic, patients often come back with dangerously high levels of plastic in their bodies, she says.
目前，我们还不知道人体内微塑料的健康水平是多少，但Viavi诊所首席执行官萨宾·多奈博士坚信，许多西方人已经超过了安全线。多奈表示，在她的诊所进行的测试中，患者体内的塑料含量往往处于较高的危险值。
微塑料几乎无处不在，食物、饮用水、化妆品、生活用品中都有微塑料。从现代生活里消除塑料几乎是不可能的，但我们仍然可以采取一些措施来尽量减小微塑料的摄入。
1 Avoiding reheating takeaway food in plastic boxes
避免将外卖装在塑料盒中重新加热
Any time plastic containers are heated, chemical changes in the material mean it can leach microparticles into your food. If you can’t avoid the takeaway boxes, try not to reheat food in them when having leftovers. Instead, decant them to a plate.每当塑料容器被加热时，材料发生的化学变化意味着会有微粒子渗入到食物中。如果你无法避免使用外卖盒，那么吃剩饭时尽量不要在外卖盒里加热，而是应该倒进盘子里。
2 Using a glass water bottle instead of a plastic one
用玻璃水瓶代替塑料水瓶
Canadian research from 2019 found that bottled water contains 22 times more microplastics than tap water, meaning someone who exclusively drinks bottled water would imbibe 130,000 more particles a year, compared to 4,000 from tap water.
2019年加拿大的一项研究发现，瓶装水中的微塑料含量是自来水的22倍，这意味着只饮用瓶装水的人每年会吸收超过13万个微塑料粒子，而饮用自来水的人吸收的微塑料粒子数量为4000个。
She recommends using a glass bottle when you’re on the go, and filling it with water that has gone through a reverse osmosis filter, which can help to remove the microplastics in tap water.她建议外出时携带玻璃瓶，并装入经过反渗透过滤器的水，这有助于去除自来水中的微塑料。
[Photo/Pexels]
3 Avoiding using cling film on hot food
避免在热食物上包裹保鲜膜
“Cling film is bad: never microwave it or put it on hot food,” says Donnai.多奈表示：“保鲜膜不健康：千万不要用微波炉加热或放在热的食物上。”
4 Using metal or glass coffee cups
使用金属或玻璃咖啡杯
The heat of the coffee will encourage the plastic to leach into your drink. Instead, bring a reusable glass cup for takeaways or consider drinking your coffee in a cafe.
咖啡的热度会让塑料渗入你的饮料中。可以带一个可重复使用的玻璃杯，或者考虑在咖啡馆喝咖啡。
5 Swapping plastic baby bottles for glass versions
将塑料婴儿奶瓶换成玻璃瓶
To reduce your baby’s exposure, you could think about swapping plastic baby bottles for glass versions. Alternatively, you could use other methods to sterilize that don’t involve heating, like UV light sterilization machines or with sterilizing powder or tablets.为了减少宝宝接触微塑料，你可以考虑将塑料婴儿奶瓶换成玻璃奶瓶。或者，也可以使用其他不需要加热的方法给奶瓶消毒，比如紫外线消毒机或使用消毒粉或消毒片。
6 Stopping chewing on the end of pens
停止啃咬笔头
Donnai also suggests looking at other sources of plastic in your children’s lives, including baby chewing toys or dummies which are particularly harmful because they go in the mouth. Similarly, she recommends that adults stop chewing on the end of pens.多奈还建议寻找孩子在生活中接触到的其他塑料来源，包括婴儿咀嚼玩具或橡皮奶嘴，这些物件会进入口腔，因此尤其有害。同样，她建议成年人停止咬笔的末端。
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