信息來源：NJ Advance Media

在南澤西州的特拉華河(Delaware River)沿岸，重工業長期以來都是造成水污染、空氣污染和土地污染的原因之一?？茖W家們對一種新的污染物質發出了警報。

Along the Delaware River in South Jersey, where heavy industry has long contributed to polluted water, air and ground, scientists have raised the alarm over a new contamination.

根據美國環境保護局和新澤西州環境保護局的科學家的最新研究，在格洛斯特和塞勒姆兩縣的土壤中發現了一組幾乎沒有被研究過的化學物質。

A scarcely studied group of chemicals can now be found in soil across Gloucester and Salem counties, according to new research by scientists from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

這些污染物似乎已經被排放到空氣中，其中一些已經被吹到了北澤西州。這些污染物來自西德特福德市（Deptford）的索爾維化工廠。就在幾年前，這家工廠被認為是造成水污染危機的罪魁禍首。

The pollution appears to have been spewed into the air – some of it blown as far as North Jersey -from a West Deptford chemical plant that was blamed for?a water crisis just a few years ago.

這項研究上個月發表在《科學》(Science)雜志上，重點研究了比利時化學公司索爾維(Solvay)在南澤西島工廠生產過程中使用的一種新物質的擴散情況。

The study,?published last month in the journal Science, focuses on the spread of a new substance used by Solvay, a Belgian chemical company, as part of manufacturing operations at the company’s South Jersey facility.

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這些存在爭議的的化學品是全氟烷基磺酸鹽（PFAS）的替代品。全氟烷基磺酸鹽（PFAS）已知對人類有毒。近幾年，來自美國各地軍事基地的污染和2019年由馬克·魯法洛主演的以全氟烷基磺酸鹽（PFAS）在垃圾焚燒爐中的燃燒為主題的電影《黑水》引起了人們對PFAS的關注。

The chemicals in question are replacements for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — chemicals that are known to be toxic to humans and have grabbed attention in recent years, from?pollution on military bases across the U.S.?and the?burning of the chemicals in garbage incinerators?to serving as the subject of the 2019 film “Dark Waters” starring Mark Ruffalo.

PFAS用于不粘炊具、耐污織物、防火泡沫和一系列其他產品，有時被稱為“永久化學品”，因為它們在環境或人體中不易分解。據美國疾病控制與預防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)稱，它們與癌癥和其他健康問題有關。

PFAS, used in nonstick cookware, stain-resistant fabrics, firefighting foam and a range of other products, are sometimes called “forever chemicals” because they do not easily break down in the environment or the human body. They have been linked to cancer and other health effects,?according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

環保局發言人Larry Hajna在一份聲明中稱，新的索爾維化學品與全氟烷基磺酸鹽（PFAS）的研究表明“具有相似的毒性和生物積累特性”。這些化合物對健康的潛在影響尚不清楚。

Larry Hajna, a DEP spokesperson, said in a statement that the new Solvay chemicals “are expected to have toxicity and bioaccumulation properties similar” to more?well-studied?PFAS. The potential health effects of these compounds is not yet known.

Hajna說:“環保局將致力于支持和推進進一步的研究，以更好地了解該替代化學品的分布和潛在的環境和健康影響。”

“The DEP is committed to supporting and advancing further studies to better understand the distribution and potential environmental and health impacts of replacement chemicals,” Hajna said.

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索爾維公司在一份聲明中告訴新州前衛媒體，它已經向美國環保署和環保局提供了其新化學品的毒理學報告。Hajna證實，美國環保局有來自索爾維的此類報告，但補充說，國家不能將其公開，因為該報告包含受保護的專利信息。

Solvay told NJ Advance Media in a statement that it has provided toxicology reports for its new chemicals to the EPA and the DEP. Hajna confirmed that DEP has such reports from Solvay, but added that the state can’t make them public because the included proprietary information is protected.

污染追蹤

Tracking down the pollution

這些新發現的物質來自于對2017年下半年由環境保護局從新澤西附近采集的土壤樣本的分析，其中大部分來自南澤西。

The new findings stem from analysis of soil samples taken by the DEP from around New Jersey — mostly from South Jersey — in late 2017.

正是這個地區的兩家主要的化工廠（位于維爾的科慕公司(前杜邦公司)的工廠和位于西德普特福德的索爾維工廠）在過去造成了PFAS污染。

It’s in that region where two major chemical facilities — the Chemours (formerly DuPont) Chambers Works plant in Pennsville and the Solvay plant in West Deptford — are known to have caused PFAS pollution in the past.

科學家們檢查了每個土壤樣本中是否存在氯氟聚醚羧酸鹽(ClPFPECA)（這種新的索爾維化合物的分子片段可以作為一種“指紋”），因為它們在舊的PFAS污染中沒有被發現。

Scientists examined each soil sample for the presence of chloroperfluoropolyether carboxylates (ClPFPECA) — molecular pieces of the new Solvay compounds that serve as sort of fingerprints, because they are not found in older PFAS pollution.

污染的地理分布和新化學物質的結構本身表明它們來自蘇威工廠，華盛頓說。研究還表明，污染物很可能是從索爾維工廠排放到空氣中，而不是通過廢水排放。

The geographic spread of the contamination and the structure of the new chemicals themselves indicate that they came from the Solvay plant, Washington said. The research also indicates it is likely the contamination was released into the air from the Solvay plant, rather than being dumped through wastewater.

索爾維沒有向媒體表明污染來自其工廠。公司的發言人布萊恩·卡羅爾說:“我們將繼續評估《科學》雜志上報道的研究結果，目前還不能就任何探測結果是否來自我們的操作或其他來源發表評論。”

Solvay did not confirm to NJ Advance Media that the contamination originated from its plant.“We continue to assess the study reported in Science, and at this time, cannot comment on whether any detections reported may have originated from our operations or from other sources,” said Brian Carroll, a Solvay spokesperson.

南澤西島似乎是污染的中心，但研究發現北澤西島的土壤中也有氯氟聚醚羧酸鹽（CIPFPECAs）。很可能空氣中的污染物在進入土壤之前就已經被風帶到很遠的地方。

South Jersey appears to be the heart of the pollution, but the research found CIPFPECAs in North Jersey soil as well. It’s likely the airborne pollution has been carried far distances by the wind before settling into the soil.

在我們對24份來自全州各地的土壤樣本，包括一份來自該州北部邊境的樣本進行分析，我認為它們分布廣泛，”華盛頓在談到新化學物質時說。

“Considering that we had 24 soil samples from around the state, including one from the northern border of the state, I would consider them widespread,” Washington said of the new chemicals.

這些化學品是如何被使用的？

How the chemicals are used？

蘇威公司在西德普特福德工廠生產特種薄膜，該廠有140名員工，與費城國際機場隔特拉華河相望。據Intercept報道，這些特種薄膜已經被用于半導體和鋰電池。

Solvay makes specialty plastics at the West Deptford plant, a facility that?employs 140 people?just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia International Airport. Those plastics have been used for things like semi-conductors and lithium batteries,?according to The Intercept.

從1985年開始，蘇威在這個過程中使用一種全氟壬酸(PFNA)作為原料。但是，作為美國環境保護署計劃的一部分，這家化學公司在2010年前逐步停止使用PFNA。

Starting in 1985, Solvay used a PFAS called perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) as an ingredient in this process. But the chemical company phased out use of PFNA by 2010, as part of an EPA program.

目前還不清楚索爾維何時開始使用這種新的化學物質來替代全氟壬酸(PFNA)。

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It is unclear when Solvay began using the new chemicals to replace PFNA.

特拉華州河流保護組織副主任特蕾西·卡魯西奧說，EPA的這項新研究是蘇威淘汰PFNA后，首次真正了解其使用的材料。

Tracy Carluccio, the deputy director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, said the new EPA study is the first real peak behind the curtain about what Solvay has been using since it phased out PFNA.

Carluccio補充說，近年來對工廠使用新化學物質的擔憂有所增加，因為有報道強調在北卡羅來納州的開普菲爾地區污染了另一種PFAS替代化學物質-Chemours使用的GenX。

Carluccio added that worry about new chemicals being used at the plant has grown in recent years, as reports highlighted contamination of a different PFAS replacement chemical —?GenX, which is used by Chemours?— in the Cape Fear region of North Carolina.

卡魯齊奧說：“關于什么被用來替代PFNA，這是一個未知數，也是一個非常令人擔憂的未知數?！?/span>

“It was an unknown, and it was a very worrisome unknown, about what was being used to replace PFNA,” Carluccio said.

蘇威公司在接受NJ Advance Media采訪時表示，公司愿意與環境部進一步合作研究新化學品，但表示這種合作可能只會在一定程度上。

Solvay told NJ Advance Media that it is willing to cooperate with further DEP studies of the new chemicals, but the company indicated that such cooperation may only go to a certain extent.

卡洛爾說：“索爾維已經向環保局提出了有關其當前加工助劑的定量，針對性的環境研究?！?/span>

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“Solvay has proposed to the [DEP] a quantitative and targeted environmental investigation concerning its current process aids,” Carroll said.