VOA慢速英语:Millions of people in developing countries living near toxic waste dumps

Millions of people in developing countries living near toxic waste dumps. A new study looked at the dangers of living near these chemical waste sites. An environmental organization in New York studied water and soil samples from 373 waste sites, these were in three countries - India, Pakistan and Indonesia. The researchers found that more than 8.6 million people were living near the sites in 2010, and were exposed to many chemicals.
发展中国家有数百万人生活在有毒垃圾场附近，一份最新研究着眼于居住在化学垃圾场附近的危害。纽约某环境组织研究了373个垃圾场的水和土壤样本，包括印度、巴基斯坦和印尼。研究人员发现，2010年有超过860万人居住在这些处理场附近，并暴露于多种化学品的污染中。

Richard Fuller was an author of the study.
Richard Fuller是这项研究的作者。

"Lead, chromium,  mercury, phosphates, different kinds of organic chemicals, pesticides and the like. They're all over the world, unfortunately."
“铅、铬、汞、磷酸盐、各种有机化学品、杀虫剂等等。不幸的是它们分布在世界各地。”

Mr. Fuller heads the Blacksmith Institute, which paid for the study. The institute works to solve pollution problems in low- and moderate-income countries.
Fuller先生是布莱克史密斯研究所的负责人，该所致力于解决中、低收入国家的污染问题。

The study says people living near the dumps lost more than 828-thousand years of healthy life from toxic waste exposure. The researchers based this finding, an estimates of illness, disability and early death. By comparison, they say malaria caused less illness and early death in the same three countries. Air pollution, they say caused a little more.
研究发现，居住在垃圾堆旁边，接触有毒物质会使健康寿命受损8.28万年。研究人员以疾病、残疾和过早死亡的估值这一研究结果作为根据，他们表示，相比之下同样是在这三个国家，痢疾造成的疾病和过早死亡更少。他们说大气污染会导致更多问题。

The study found that lead created the highest pollution levels, this metal if absorbed into the blood, can harm the brain development of unborn babies, and lower the intelligence of children.
研究发现铅造成的污染水平最高，铅被吸收进入血液的话，能损害胎儿大脑的发育，降低孩子的智商。

Two-thirds of those exposed to lead near waste dumps in Pakistan, India and Indonesia were children and women of child-bearing age.
在巴基斯坦、印度和印尼，接触垃圾场附近铅的人有三分之二的是儿童和育龄妇女。

Kevin Chatham-Stephens was the lead author of the study, he is a pediatric environmental health expert at the Mount Sinai school of medicine in New York. He says people living near toxic waste sites can take simple steps to reduce their risk.
Kevin Chatham-Stephens是这项研究的主要作者，他是纽约西奈山医学院里一名儿童环境健康专家。他说，居住在有毒废料处理场附近的人们可以通过一些简单的措施来降低风险。

"Even though it may not sound like a lot, washing your hands is one of the most effective ways that we can decrease our exposure to chemical pollutants - just because we know that oftentimes chemicals such as lead can end up in the dust and if we have that dust on our hands, and then we eat our foods and we wipe our mouths or something like that, then that chemical can enter into our body."
“尽管听起来方法很简单，其实洗手是最有效的方法，可以减少所接触的化学污染物的量。正因为我们知道，通常情况下像铅一类的化学物质会附着在灰尘上，如果我们双手沾有灰尘，然后吃东西或擦嘴巴或之类的，化学物质就会进入我们的身体。”

The Blacksmith Institute is studying toxic waste sites in 70 other developing countries, it hopes to help organize clean-up efforts. Richard Fuller says cleaning-up is a slow process, but the countries he's working with have been eager to cooperate.
布莱克史密斯研究所正在研究另外70个国家的有毒垃圾站，希望能帮助动员清洁活动。 Richard Fuller说，清理是一个缓慢的过程，但他共事的这些国家一直渴望合作。

"Everyone here has the right heart and [is] keen to do the best that they can. So, we think it's possible. It's just going to take a lot of work."
“这里的每个人都真心希望能做到最好，所以我们觉得这是有可能的，只是需要做出大量努力而已。”