VOA慢速英语:Scientists Create Method to Test Food and Drugs for Purity

Millions of people in developing countries have to be on guard against contaminated food and medicine.Some products could be harmful -- even deadly.
无数发展中国家的人们需要防范受污染的食物和药物。一些产品是有害的，甚至是致命的。

In Nigeria, brake fluid was found in a product designed to reduce teething pain in babies.A few years ago, the chemical melamine was discovered in Chinese baby food. And in Kenya, powerful antibiotic drugs were found to contain talcum powder.
在尼日利亚，在给婴儿设计的减缓牙痛的药物中发现了制动液。几年前，在中国的婴儿食物中发现了化学物质三聚氰胺。在肯尼亚，强效抗生素中被发现含有滑石粉。

Now, a group of scientists in the United States has found a way to test products before they can cause death or injury.And the process is not costly.
最近，美国的一组科学家发现了一种在产品造成伤亡之前对其进行测试的方法。测试的花费并不高。

There are many ways for drugs and food to be contaminated, including a manufacturer’s mistake or problems with how the product is stored, or someone could even add a harmful substance.
药物和食物受污染的途径有很多，包括制造商出错，或产品储存方式有问题，又或者是某人加入了有害物质。

Marya Lieberman teaches chemistry at Notre Dame University in Indiana.She is working to give druggist in developing nations an easy way to identify drug contamination.
玛丽亚·利伯曼在印第安纳州的圣母大学教授化学。她致力于向发展中国家的药剂师提供一种简单的鉴定药物污染的方法。

Her process is called PAD -- short for Paper Analytical Device. It replaces costly machines that developing countries may not have.
她的方法被称为PAD，是试纸分析方法的简称。它取代了发展中国家可能没有的昂贵机器。

The PAD project began six years ago as a partnership between Notre Dame and St. Mary’s College in Maryland.Researchers developed a paper card test for medicines. Each of the card’s 12 lines has a different chemical. When a drug is placed across the lines and the card is put in water, a change in color will show if the drug is safe.
PAD项目自六年前圣母大学和马里兰州的圣玛利亚学院建立合作关系之时开始。研究者们开发了一种用于检测药物的纸卡测试。这张纸卡上有12条线，每一条上都有一种不同的化学物质。将药物放置在这些线条之上，再将纸卡放入水中，通过颜色的变化就能看出药物是否安全。

Lieberman says she and the other researchers are developing cards to test for lead, iodine and even liquid waste.
利伯曼说她和其他研究者们正在开发测试铅、碘，甚至是废液的纸卡。

Jamie Luther is a graduate student at Notre Dame. She is working on a card that will show if milk contains anything harmful.
杰米·卢瑟是圣母大学的一名研究生。她正在开发一种测试牛奶是否含有任何有害物质的纸卡。

“There’s test that are published for you know, people at home to mix chemicals to test their own milk.And I thought to myself, like you know, ‘that’s so cumbersome. People shouldn’t be handling acids in their home, and some of these dangerous chemicals with their hands.’”
“有很多已经出版的测试，使人们能够在家里使用混合化学物质来测试他们的牛奶。我心想，‘这也太不方便了。人们不应该在自己的家里用自己的双手处理各种酸类物质，以及其他一些危险的化学物质。’”

Lieberman’s team has worked with 18 other universities across the United States to discover the most common contaminants.The team uses special machines to test the drugs collected from pharmacies throughout the developing world.
利伯曼的小组和美国境内的其他18所大学合作，寻找最常见的污染物。小组使用特殊的机器测试从发展中国家的多个药房收集来的药物。

Nicholas Myers is another Notre Dame graduate student.He says before he joined the project he did not know how big a problem contaminated drugs are.
尼古拉斯·迈尔斯也是圣母大学的一名研究生。他说在他加入此项目之前，都不知道药物污染原来是这么严重的一个问题。

“I just took it for granted that chemical analysis could happen anywhere.I didn’t know the extent to which low- and middle-income countries did not have the capacity to do chemical testing.”
“我只是理所当然地认为化学成分分析在任何地方都可能发生。我并不知道低收入和中等收入的国家没有能力进行药物检测的程度是怎样的。”

A start-up company in New York is developing a smartphone app to help with testing of food products and drugs. The company says testers can take a picture with their phone and then compare it to information in the computer program.
纽约的一家创业公司正在开发一款智能手机应用程序，以对产品和药物进行测试。此公司表示，测试者们可以用它们的手机拍照，然后和计算机程序中的信息进行比较。

“If we can’t increase the capacity of analytical labs in the developing world, maybe we can come up with a way to bring that technology in a portable form that will be usable in the field.”
“如果我们不能增强发展中国家分析实验室的能力，或许我们可以寻找一种将这种科技以一种可携带的方式在此领域使用的方法。”

I’m Marsha James.
我是玛莎·詹姆斯。