VOA慢速英语: 室内污染每年夺取数百万人的性命

室内污染每年夺取数百万人的性命

The WHO finds that poor cooking, heating and lighting technologies are killing millions of people each year.

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

这里是美国之音的健康报道。

The way we cook is important. In many countries, the two choices are natural gas or electric-powered stoves.

我们做饭的方式很重要。在很多国家，使用两种选择：天然气或者电炉具。

The World Health Organization warns that millions of people are dying every year from indoor air pollution.

世界卫生组织警示说：每年有数百万人因为室内污染，面临死亡。

Indoor air pollution results from the use of dangerous fuels and cook-stoves in the home. To help fight the problem, the WHO announced new guidelines aimed at reducing household pollutants.

室内污染来源于在家中使用危险的燃料和做饭用具。为了解决这种问题，世界卫生组织发布新的指导原则：旨在减少家庭污染源。

WHO officials say nearly three billion people are unable to use clean fuels and technologies for cooking, heating and lighting. And they say more than seven million people die from exposure to indoor or outdoor air pollution each year. Of that number, the WHO says about 4.3 million people die from household air pollution given off by simple biomass and coal cook-stoves.

世界卫生组织官员称大概有30亿人不能使用清洁的燃料和技术来做饭、取暖和照明。每年至少有700万人死于室内或者室外的空气污染。其中大概有430万人死于家里的空气污染，污染源来自燃烧生物燃料和使用煤炭炉子。

Most of the deaths are in developing countries.

大多数的死亡案例发生在发展中国家。

The WHO’s plan of action for reducing indoor pollutants is based on new findings. These findings show that the use of toxic fuels in inefficient stoves, space heaters or lights is to blame for many of these deaths.

世界卫生组织计划基于新发现的问题来减少室内污染。这些发现表明低效的炉灶使用有毒燃料，空间加热器或者一些灯具都是造成死亡的原因。

Carlos Dora is Coordinator in the WHO's Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health. He says people should not use unprocessed coal and kerosene fuel indoors. He says opening a window or door to let out the harmful air will not correct the situation. It will only pollute the outdoors.

卡洛斯·多拉是世界卫生组织公共卫生、环境和社会健康部门的协调员。他说人们不应该再在室内使用那些没有经过加工的煤炭河煤油燃料。打开门窗让有害气体散出去也不是正确的处理方法，这样会污染室外的空气。

“You cannot expect that a bit of ventilation is going to get rid of this. It is really about very clean technologies and clean fuels. And, the fuel story has not been stressed enough so far in the global debate. So, that is the new thing. We should be going for clean fuels. We should be avoiding coal. We should be avoiding kerosene and we should be going for the solar, the LPG (liquified petroleum gas), the ethanol ... the solutions that we know exist that can address a big proportion of this issue.”

“你不能想仅靠空气流通就摆脱污染，需要使用清洁能源和技术。在全球的能源使用争论中，能源问题还没有引起足够的强调重视。我们应该避免使用煤炭、煤油，需要寻找太阳能、液化石油气、乙醇…现存的解决方案可以解决一些问题。”

WHO officials say indoor pollution leads to early deaths from stroke, heart and lung disease, childhood pneumonia and lung cancer. Women and girls are the main victims.

世界卫生组织官员表示室内污染导致中风、心脏病和肺部疾病、儿童肺炎和肺癌。而女人和女孩是主要的受害人群。

The WHO says these diseases can often result from high levels of fine particulate matter and carbon monoxide released by the burning of solid fuels. These fuels include wood, coal, animal waste, crop waste and charcoal.

世界卫生组织称这些疾病通常由燃烧固体燃料产生的微粒物和一氧化碳导致。这些燃料包括木头、煤炭、动物排泄的废物、农作物废物和木炭。

The United Nations found that more than 95 percent of households in sub-Saharan Africa depend on solid fuels for cooking. It says huge populations in India, China and Latin American countries, such as Guatemala and Peru, also are at risk.

联合国发现撒哈拉以南的非洲有多余95%的家庭使用固体燃料做饭，此外，印度、中国和拉丁美洲的一些国家如：危地马拉和秘鲁，人口众多，也面临污染的风险。

​Nigel Bruce is a professor of Public Health at the University of Liverpool. He says researchers are developing good cook-stoves and other equipment to burn fuels in a more efficient way.

尼格尔·布鲁斯是利物浦大学公共卫生专业的教授，他说研究者正在研发一种能够更有效燃烧燃料的煤炉和其它的设备。

“There are already multiple technologies available for use in clean fuels. There is really quite an effective and reasonably low-cost ethanol stove that is made by Dometic (a Sweden-based company) that is now being tested out .. it has been tested out in a number of African countries and we do report results from that in the guidelines. LPG cook is obviously widely available and efforts are under way to make those efficient. Another interesting development is electric induction stoves."

“已经有多种技术能够使用清洁能源。有一种由多米克公司（一个瑞典公司）制造的酒精炉子正在测试中，它可以有效使用、而且低成本。这种炉子已经在一些非洲国家进行测试，正是在这样的指导原则下，我们做出的报道。液化石油气炉灶很明显得到广泛使用，为了让这种炉灶更有效的使用，研发人员仍在继续努力中。另一种有趣的研发产品是电磁炉。”

WHO experts note some new, safe and low-cost technologies that could help are already available. In India, you can buy an induction stove for about$8.00. And in Africa you can buy a solar lamp for less than $1.00.

世界卫生组织的官员指出一些新的、安全的、低成本的技术确实能够有效帮助。在印度，只需要8美元就能买个电磁炉。在非洲，不到1美元你就可以买一个太阳能灯。

But, this, the agency says, is just a start. It is urging developing countries to use cleaner fuels and increase access to cleaner and more modern cooking and heating appliances.

但是，卫生组织称，这只是一个开始。需要督促发展中国家使用清洁能源，并且增加对更清洁、更现代的炉具和取暖设备的使用。

I’m Anna Matteo.

我是安娜·马特奥。

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Words in this Story

indoor – adj. done, living, located, or used inside a building

particulate - n. a substance made up of very small separate particles

kerosene – n. a kind of oil that is burned as a fuel — often used before another noun such as a kerosene heater and kerosene lamp; kerosene is called “paraffin” in British English

induction (stoves)- adj. Induction cooking heats by electric current instead by a flame or heating element.

appliance – n. a machine (such as a stove, microwave, or dishwasher) that is powered by electricity and that is used in people's homes