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科学美国人60秒:鲨鱼含汞和神经毒素或危害人体健康

时间:2016-10-28 12:06:00 来源:可可英语编辑:aimee 可可英语APP下载 | 可可官方微信:ikekenet

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This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.
这里是科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。

Living at the top of the food chain, sharks can accumulate dangerous levels of methylmercury.
因为生活在食物链的顶端，所以鲨鱼可以积累达到危险水平的汞。

So much that pregnant women and children are advised not to eat shark at all.
因为鲨鱼体内的汞含量非常高，所以建议孕妇和儿童不要吃鲨鱼。

But sharks can accumulate another toxin too, called BMAA,
但是，鲨鱼还能积累另外一种毒素——BMAA，

which has been linked to the development of neurodegenerative disease.
这种毒素与神经退行性疾病的发展有关。

Which could be bad news for shark eaters.
这对爱吃鲨鱼的人来说可是个坏消息。

"Mercury in combination with BMAA is a one-two punch."
“汞和BMAA的结合可谓是双重重击。”

Deborah Mash, a professor of neurology at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine.
黛博拉·马许是迈阿密大学米勒医学院的神经学教授。

"These are two synergistic toxins.
“这是两种协同作用的毒素。

So even if there are low levels of exposure from the mercury or the BMAA,
即使汞或者BMAA的含量很低，

when humans are exposed to both of these toxins, then they will have a synergistic effect on the nervous system."
但是只要人类接触到这两种毒素，它们就会对人的神经系统产生协同效应。”

BMAA starts out in cyanobacteria, and travels up the food chain through crabs and shrimp and fish.
BMAA最初存在于蓝藻中，之后通过螃蟹、虾类和鱼类进入食物链上层。

And, as previous studies have shown, makes all the way to sharks.
此前的研究已经表明，BMAA最后进入鲨鱼体内。

What Mash and her colleagues wanted to know was how widespread the problem was, and if the chemical often appeared alongside mercury.
马许和她的同事们想知道，如果这种化学物质经常和汞一起出现，那这个问题的普遍性有多大。

So they analyzed fin and muscle samples from 10 species of shark—55 individuals in all—from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
所以，他们从太平洋和大西洋的55只鲨鱼中提取分析了10种鲨鱼的鳍和肌肉样本。

And they found BMAA and mercury in all 10 species.
在这10种鲨鱼中，均发现了BMAA和汞。

Suggesting that exposure to that "one-two punch" could be pretty common.
这表明，这两种毒素的结合非常普遍。

The results are in the journal Toxins.
该研究结果发表在《毒素》杂志上。

It's still not clear at this point what sort of risk this occasional exposure through food might have. Still, Mash isn't waiting.
目前尚不清楚通过食物接触这些毒素会产生何种风险。但是马许并没有坐等结果。

"I myself would not want to be exposed to BMAA or methyl mercury in my diet by eating shark fin or shark meat or taking shark cartilage products.
“我不想因为吃鱼翅、鲨鱼肉或服用鲨鱼软骨制品而在饮食中接触到BMAA或甲基汞。

We already know that mercury is toxic to our health.
我们已经知道汞危害我们的健康。

And we already know that BMAA plus mercury is a very bad mix for the brain.
我们也知道BMAA和汞结合会对我们的大脑造成更严重的危害。

So people need to be concerned, and I think that's not only for the benefit of us as consumers,
所以，我认为人们担心的不应该仅仅是我们作为消费者的利益，

but also to the poor sharks, who are threatened with extinction."
同时也要担心濒临灭绝的可怜的鲨鱼。”

Conservationists have argued for years that sharks should be spared.
多年来，环保人士一直认为应该保护鲨鱼。

Maybe now that it's us who are threatened... people might finally start to leave them alone.
也许现在受到威胁的是我们人类……所以，现在人们可能不会再去管它们了。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.
谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。

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重点讲解：
1. even if 即使；尽管；纵然；
例句：They'll stand by you even if you don't succeed.
即使你不成功他们也会支持你Ez;Rz.w|!Y+]45M。
2. be exposed to 使暴露于（险境）；使遭受（危险或不快）；
例句：Women who are exposed to mercury, cadmium, or vinyl chloride before conceiving seem to be especially likely to have autistic kids.
女性在怀孕期间接触汞、镉或氯乙烯很有可能会生出自闭症患儿m+230uTiPrntBX(=c&NM。
3. start out 起初是…；
例句：He started out to fix the car himself, but in the end, he had to ask for help.
起初他本打算自己修车，可最后他还是不得不请人帮忙.INYCE!G8U#1W^a8FsW。
4. leave alone 听…自便；随…去；不打扰；
例句：Some people need to confront a traumatic past; others find it better to leave it alone.
有人需要直面过去的创伤，有人则觉得不去想它为妙P7ot-kF!*9N*QhL9WtP。

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重点单词		查看全部解释
fin	[fin]	想一想再看 n. 鳍，鱼翅，鳍状物，散热片，五元纸币 vt. 装上鳍
neurology	[njuə'rɔlədʒi]	想一想再看 n. 神经学，神经病学
exposed	[iks'pəuzd]	想一想再看 adj. 暴露的，无掩蔽的，暴露于风雨中的 v. 暴露，
vinyl	['vainil]	想一想再看 n. [化]乙烯基	联想记忆 X 单词vinyl 联想记忆：读：why no？，为什么不用，如此好的塑料。
toxin	['tɔksin]	想一想再看 n. 毒素，毒质	联想记忆 X 单词toxin 联想记忆： tox毒，in里面：里面的毒－毒素
extinction	[iks'tiŋkʃən]	想一想再看 n. 消失，消减，废止	联想记忆 X 单词extinction 联想记忆： ex+stinct刺激+ion→灭绝
accumulate	[ə'kju:mjuleit]	想一想再看 vt. 积聚，累加，堆积 vi. 累积	联想记忆 X 单词accumulate 联想记忆： ac一再，cumul堆积－一再堆积－积累
concerned	[kən'sə:nd]	想一想再看 adj. 担忧的，关心的
benefit	['benifit]	想一想再看 n. 利益，津贴，保险金，义卖，义演 vt.	联想记忆 X 单词benefit 联想记忆： bene好，fit做－做事后的好处
previous	['pri:vjəs]	想一想再看 adj. 在 ... 之前，先，前，以前的	联想记忆 X 单词previous 联想记忆： pne以前+vi路[引申为走]+ous→以前走过的→以前的