國家地理:拉響關于水質(zhì)的警報(2)

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Across the country, water systems are old, badly maintained, and in dire need of modernizing -- from lead service lines in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Newark, New Jersey, to silt and debris in drinking water after heavy rain in Austin, Texas, to fecal contamination in Penn Township, Pennsylvania. Worse, some are managed by dysfunctional agencies where incompetence and socioeconomic and racial bias may determine whether a community is made sick by its drinking water. The reality is that we can no longer assume that our water is safe to drink.

在美國各地，自來水系統(tǒng)老舊、維護不善，亟需現(xiàn)代化，像是威斯康星州密爾瓦基和紐澤西州紐瓦克的鉛制水管問題、德州奧斯汀在暴雨過后的飲用水中有淤泥和碎屑、賓州佩恩鎮(zhèn)的糞便污染。更糟的是，有些小區(qū)由運作失常的機構管理，這些機構的無能，或是社會經(jīng)濟和種族偏見，可能會決定一個小區(qū)是否因飲用水而生病。事實就是，我們不能再認定飲用水是安全的了。

How unsafe is it? Depending on the source of contamination and the exposure, health effects include neurological problems and developmental disabilities in children (lead), interference with hormones (perchlorates), and increased risk of cancers of the skin, bladder, and kidney (arsenic). The Environmental Protection Agency regulates more than 90 contaminants—but a hundred more that are tracked are so far unregulated.

自來水有多不安全，取決于污染源和接觸環(huán)境，對健康的影響包括了兒童神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)問題和發(fā)展障礙（鉛）、干擾體內(nèi)激素（過氯酸鹽），以及增加皮膚癌、膀胱癌和腎臟癌的風險（砷）。美國環(huán)境保護局規(guī)范了超過 90 種污染物，但迄今為止，還有一百多種污染物未列管。