信息来源：NJ Advance Media

在南泽西州的特拉华河(Delaware River)沿岸，重工业长期以来都是造成水污染、空气污染和土地污染的原因之一。科学家们对一种新的污染物质发出了警报。

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.

根据美国环境保护局和新泽西州环境保护局的科学家的最新研究，在格洛斯特和塞勒姆两县的土壤中发现了一组几乎没有被研究过的化学物质。

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.

这些污染物似乎已经被排放到空气中，其中一些已经被吹到了北泽西州。这些污染物来自西德特福德市（Deptford）的索尔维化工厂。就在几年前，这家工厂被认为是造成水污染危机的罪魁祸首。

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.

这项研究上个月发表在《科学》(Science)杂志上，重点研究了比利时化学公司索尔维(Solvay)在南泽西岛工厂生产过程中使用的一种新物质的扩散情况。

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.

这些存在争议的的化学品是全氟烷基磺酸盐（PFAS）的替代品。全氟烷基磺酸盐（PFAS）已知对人类有毒。近几年，来自美国各地军事基地的污染和2019年由马克·鲁法洛主演的以全氟烷基磺酸盐（PFAS）在垃圾焚烧炉中的燃烧为主题的电影《黑水》引起了人们对PFAS的关注。

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、耐污织物、防火泡沫和一系列其他产品，有时被称为“永久化学品”，因为它们在环境或人体中不易分解。据美国疾病控制与预防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)称，它们与癌症和其他健康问题有关。

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.

环保局发言人Larry Hajna在一份声明中称，新的索尔维化学品与全氟烷基磺酸盐（PFAS）的研究表明“具有相似的毒性和生物积累特性”。这些化合物对健康的潜在影响尚不清楚。

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说:“环保局将致力于支持和推进进一步的研究，以更好地了解该替代化学品的分布和潜在的环境和健康影响。”

“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.

索尔维公司在一份声明中告诉新州前卫媒体，它已经向美国环保署和环保局提供了其新化学品的毒理学报告。Hajna证实，美国环保局有来自索尔维的此类报告，但补充说，国家不能将其公开，因为该报告包含受保护的专利信息。

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.

污染追踪

Tracking down the pollution

这些新发现的物质来自于对2017年下半年由环境保护局从新泽西附近采集的土壤样本的分析，其中大部分来自南泽西。

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

正是这个地区的两家主要的化工厂（位于维尔的科慕公司(前杜邦公司)的工厂和位于西德普特福德的索尔维工厂）在过去造成了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.

科学家们检查了每个土壤样本中是否存在氯氟聚醚羧酸盐(ClPFPECA)（这种新的索尔维化合物的分子片段可以作为一种“指纹”），因为它们在旧的PFAS污染中没有被发现。

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学物质的结构本身表明它们来自苏威工厂，华盛顿说。研究还表明，污染物很可能是从索尔维工厂排放到空气中，而不是通过废水排放。

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.

索尔维没有向媒体表明污染来自其工厂。公司的发言人布莱恩·卡罗尔说:“我们将继续评估《科学》杂志上报道的研究结果，目前还不能就任何探测结果是否来自我们的操作或其他来源发表评论。”

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.

南泽西岛似乎是污染的中心，但研究发现北泽西岛的土壤中也有氯氟聚醚羧酸盐（CIPFPECAs）。很可能空气中的污染物在进入土壤之前就已经被风带到很远的地方。

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.

在我们对24份来自全州各地的土壤样本，包括一份来自该州北部边境的样本进行分析，我认为它们分布广泛，”华盛顿在谈到新化学物质时说。

“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.

这些化学品是如何被使用的？

How the chemicals are used？

苏威公司在西德普特福德工厂生产特种薄膜，该厂有140名员工，与费城国际机场隔特拉华河相望。据Intercept报道，这些特种薄膜已经被用于半导体和锂电池。

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.

从1985年开始，苏威在这个过程中使用一种全氟壬酸(PFNA)作为原料。但是，作为美国环境保护署计划的一部分，这家化学公司在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.

目前还不清楚索尔维何时开始使用这种新的化学物质来替代全氟壬酸(PFNA)。

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

特拉华州河流保护组织副主任特蕾西·卡鲁西奥说，EPA的这项新研究是苏威淘汰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补充说，近年来对工厂使用新化学物质的担忧有所增加，因为有报道强调在北卡罗来纳州的开普菲尔地区污染了另一种PFAS替代化学物质-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.

卡鲁齐奥说：“关于什么被用来替代PFNA，这是一个未知数，也是一个非常令人担忧的未知数。”

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

苏威公司在接受NJ Advance Media采访时表示，公司愿意与环境部进一步合作研究新化学品，但表示这种合作可能只会在一定程度上。

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.

卡洛尔说：“索尔维已经向环保局提出了有关其当前加工助剂的定量，针对性的环境研究。”

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