Fresh warning sounded on plastics problem
科学家对塑料污染发出新警告
Walk along any beach in the world, no matter how isolated, you will find plastic of some kind washed up on the shoreline, offering a reminder of the reckless throwaway culture of the presentday world.
在全世界无论是多么偏远的海岸，你总能找到某种被冲到海岸线的塑料垃圾，提醒我们这种不计后果的“一次性文化”在当今世界仍在盛行。
Now , a study has sounded a fresh warning on the damage caused to the marine ecosystem due to discarded plastics, which eventually has a bearing on human health due to the seafood we consume.
近日，一项研究就废弃塑料给海洋生态系统造成的危险发出了新的预警，由于人类食用海鲜，这最终将给人类健康造成不良影响。
In a paper titled "A Growing Plastic Smog" published on March 8 in the peer-reviewed research journal Plos One, researchers called on governments around the world to take sweeping action to address the "unprecedented plastic pollution" of the world's oceans.
该篇文章名为“加剧的塑料烟雾”，于3月8日发表于同行评审的学术期刊《公共科学图书馆·综合》，在文章中研究者呼吁世界各政府采取根本行动来解决世界海洋中“前所未有的塑料污染问题”。
The plastics break down over time into minute particles that cannot be detected by the naked eye, but find their way into the marine ecosystem and into the seafood humans consume.
塑料制品会随着时间分解成裸眼看不见的微粒，进入海洋生态系统并进入人类食用的海鲜食品中。
No one knows for certain what the long-term damage will be to marine life and humans, but the study placed much of the blame on the plastics industry for failing to recycle or design for recyclability.
其对海洋生物和对人类的长期危害还无法确定，但是该研究将原因在很大程度上归咎于塑料制品行业回收不力以及设计可回收性不足的方面。
Charlene Trestrail, research associate at the University of Technology Sydney, said the study shows just how big the problem is and one which "we have been underestimating".
悉尼科技大学副研究员夏琳·特雷斯崔尔表示该研究显示了该问题的严重性，而且我们低估了其严重性。
"Once eaten, microplastics can wreak havoc on an animal's internal tissues," she said, noting that they "interfere with the production of digestive enzymes in the stomach, damage the intestines, and leak potentially harmful chemicals inside animals' digestive tracts".
“一旦被食用，微塑料会严重破坏动物内部组织，”她表示，并指出塑料微粒会“扰乱胃部消化酶的制造，损害肠道，并且在动物消化道释放潜在有害化学成分。”
Paul Harvey, an environmental scientist and author of The Plasticology Project, said the numbers in the latest study are "staggeringly phenomenal" and almost "beyond comprehension".
环境科学家及“塑料学项目”作者保罗·哈维表示这项最新研究中的塑料垃圾数量“触目惊心”而且近乎“难以理解”。
Tipping point
临界点
" Globally, we have reached a point where we can no longer ignore the plastic pollution pandemic that is infecting our oceans," he said.
“全球范围内，我们已经到达一个临界点，不能再忽视正在侵入海洋的塑料污染的蔓延。”
" This research shows us that beach cleanups and citizen science projects that focus on the environmental fate of plastics have little impact on solving the enormity of the plastic problem. It is time for policymakers, governments and businesses to wake up and take the issue seriously."
“这项研究表明，专注于塑料垃圾环境命运的海滩清理和公民科学项目对解决塑料污染这一巨大问题的影响微乎其微。现在是政策制定者、政府和企业意识到并认真对待这个问题的时候了。”
Marcus Eriksen, lead author of the study, said in a statement that the findings were a "stark warning that we must act now at a global scale".
该研究的主要作者马库斯·埃里克森在一份声明中表示，研究结果是一个“明显的警告，我们必须立即在全球范围内采取行动”。
" We've found an alarming trend of exponential growth of microplastics in the global ocean since the millennium, reaching over 170 trillion plastic particles," said Eriksen, adding that the exponential increase in microplastics across the world's oceans makes it imperative to "usher in an age of corporate responsibility for the entire life of the things they make".
埃里克森表示：“自千禧年以来，全球海洋中微塑料的指数增长呈令人担忧的趋势，已达到超过170万亿个塑料颗粒”，他补充说，鉴于全球海洋中微塑料的指数增长，“企业要在其生命周期的整个阶段承担责任，这是至关重要的。
