为什么绿色化学的兴起如此重要

为什么绿色化学的兴起如此重要

Green chemistry is an emerging focus among manufacturing industries that minimizes pollution at a molecular level. The idea is that companies can adopt new scientific processes to minimize the toll their products take on the environment.

绿色化学是一个新兴的焦点，在制造业中，能最大限度地减少污染的分子水平。其理念是，公司可以采用新的科学方法，将产品对环境的影响降到最低。

Chemicals used to manufacture consumer products often find their way into the environment. (Photo: Aleksey Kurguzov/Shutterstock)

To bring the need for green chemistry home, consider your favorite pair of jeans. An estimated 2,500 gallons of water, along with a pound of chemicals and staggering amounts of energy went into making them, according to the American Chemical Society.

想要把绿色化学的需求带回家，考虑一下你最喜欢的牛仔裤。据美国化学学会估计，在制造过程中使用了大约2500加仑的水，以及一磅化学物质和惊人的能量。

"Multiply that by 2 billion — the number of jeans produced worldwide every year — and you get a snapshot of an industry that contributes a hefty share of wastewater and greenhouse gases to the environment," the organization notes in a press release.

该组织在一份新闻稿中指出:“如果把这个数字乘以20亿——全世界每年生产的牛仔裤数量——你就会对这个排放大量废水和温室气体的行业有一个大致的了解。”

That simple example only involves the process of making jeans, a process that many people are aware of. But chemicals are a mainstay in just about every manufacturing process — from synthetic dyes in clothing that end up leaching into waterways to fertilizer chemicals that seep into soil.

这个简单的例子只涉及到牛仔裤的制作过程，很多人都知道这个过程。但是化学物质在几乎所有的生产过程中都是支柱——从衣服中的合成染料渗入到水里，到化肥化学品渗入到土壤中。

Which is where green chemistry comes in. Here's how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines it:

这就是绿色化学发挥作用的地方。以下是美国环境保护署(EPA)的定义:

"Green chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances. Green chemistry applies across the life cycle of a chemical product, including its design, manufacture, use, and ultimate disposal. Green chemistry is also known as sustainable chemistry."

绿色化学是指减少或消除有害物质的使用或产生的化学产品和工艺的设计。绿色化学适用于化学产品的整个生命周期，包括其设计、制造、使用和最终处理。绿色化学也被称为可持续化学。”

It represents a much-needed turnaround for industries that have long relied on chemicals with dubious reputations. Think of it as "good" chemistry, the kind that seeks to repair the damage of processes that brought us acid rain, fertilizers in rivers and lakes, and a hole or two in the ozone layer.

对于长期依赖名声不佳的化学品的行业来说，这是一个亟需的转变。把它想成是“好的”化学物质，这种化学物质试图修复给我们带来酸雨、河流和湖泊里的化肥以及臭氧层上的一两个空洞的过程所造成的破坏。

Going back to the example of jeans, Levi Strauss & Co. has "fully banned" the use of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in denim in favor of a safer, greener chemical. PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals" have been linked to a litany of ailments, including cancer. They're also increasingly turning up in drinking water.

回到牛仔裤的例子，李维斯公司已经“完全禁止”在牛仔布中使用全氟烷基物质(PFAS)，转而使用更安全、更环保的化学物质。PFAS也被称为“永久化学物质”，与包括癌症在内的一系列疾病有关。它们也越来越多地出现在饮用水中。

In Malaysia, picking through open landfills for recyclable trash is a way of life for poor families. (Photo: Augustine Bin Jumat/Shutterstock.com)

The amount of clothing waste alone is dizzying. As Newsweek reports, in the last 20 years, American have doubled that waste from 7 million to 14 million tons annually.

光是服装垃圾的数量就令人眼花缭乱。据《新闻周刊》报道，在过去的20年里，美国每年的垃圾数量翻了一番，从700万吨增加到1400万吨。

But what happens when those clothes start to break down?

但是当这些衣服开始坏掉的时候会发生什么呢?

"Despite considerable improvement over the last three decades in the control of toxic substances released to the environment during the production of chemicals, concern is growing about chemicals detected in the environment which are persistent, can bioaccumulate and/or are toxic," the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) notes on its website.

“尽管过去三十年来，在控制化学品生产过程中释放到环境中的有毒物质方面取得了相当大的进步，但人们越来越担心，在环境中检测到的化学物质具有持久性、生物累积性和/或毒性。”经济合作与发展组织(OECD)在其网站上指出。

The organization is calling for more research into the "significant gaps in knowledge about the characteristics, effects and exposure patterns of chemicals on the market."

该组织呼吁对“有关化学品在市场上的特性、影响和接触模式的知识方面的显著差距”进行更多的研究。

In addition, the organization is pushing for more scrutiny of the types and amounts of chemicals in consumer products — and how they eventually find their way into the natural world.

此外，该组织正在推动对消费品中化学物质的种类和数量进行更多的审查——以及它们最终是如何进入自然界的。

Green chemistry will have an important role to play in making products that aren't just safe for humans, but also the environment.

绿色化学将在制造不仅对人类安全，而且对环境安全的产品方面发挥重要作用。