TEDxOilSpill
Susan Shaw: The oil spill's toxic trade-off
肖苏珊：原油泄漏的剧毒解药
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分解原油层，使之远离海岸线：这是清污工作监督人给出的向墨西哥湾倾倒大量有毒分散剂的理由。肖苏珊却用证据说话，认为这只是在为保护少数海滩，深海的生态系统支付更惨重的代价。
Susan Shaw - Marine toxicologist
Susan Shaw is an internationally recognized marine toxicologist, author and explorer. Full bio
Susan Shaw is an internationally recognized marine toxicologist, author and explorer. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
I am a marine toxicologist,
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我是一名海洋生物毒理学家,
00:17
and I've been very, very concerned about the Gulf,
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我一直对墨西哥湾原油泄漏事件非常担忧,
00:20
particularly about the massive applications
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尤其是关于大量使用
00:23
of the toxic dispersants,
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有毒的分散剂
00:25
the Corexits.
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Corexit.
00:27
I've been working on ocean pollution
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我在大洋污染方面
00:29
for quite a long time --
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已经有多年的研究经验,
00:31
the impacts on marine life and particularly the impacts
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关于大洋污染对于海洋生物的影响，
00:34
on marine mammals.
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特别是对于海洋哺乳动物的影响.
00:36
As it turns out, marine mammals
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我们知道，海洋中的哺乳动物
00:38
are at the top of this food chain
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在食物链的最顶端。
00:40
that we're pouring millions of tons
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每年我们都向海洋
00:43
of toxic substances into
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排放数以百万吨的
00:45
every year.
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各种有毒物质，
00:47
And they are showing the signs of this.
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而哺乳动物显示出了相关的迹象。
00:50
I'm sorry to have a sad slide like this,
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我很抱歉向各位展示这张幻灯片，
00:52
but not everything is all that happy,
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但事情不可能都如人意，
00:55
especially in my work.
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特别是我工作中遇到的事。
00:59
They are loaded
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这些哺乳动物的体内
01:01
with toxic chemicals in their body,
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积累了大量的有毒化学物质，
01:03
hundreds of compounds,
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有好几百种，
01:05
all kinds of compounds -- it's staggering.
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各种各样的化合物——非常惊人。
01:07
And they're dying off rather regularly,
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它们正因此成群成群地死去，
01:09
tens of thousands around the world.
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全世界范围内，以万为计。
01:12
It's predicted they may go extinct --
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预测显示这些动物很可能会灭绝。
01:14
about a third of them --
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其中的三分之一
01:16
within about 30 years.
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将在30年内销声匿迹。
01:18
So my project is along the Northwest Atlantic.
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我的研究项目集中在大西洋的西北沿线，
01:21
It's called Seals as Sentinels.
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名为：海豹哨兵。
01:23
We're tracking pollution
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我们在食物网的顶层，
01:25
at the top of the food web, in marine mammals and fish.
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比如海生哺乳动物或鱼类体内，追踪有毒物质。
01:28
It's a region-wide,
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这是一个大范围的
01:30
eco-toxicological investigation.
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生态-毒物学的调查。
01:33
We're looking at a lot of compounds,
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我们关注许多种化合物，
01:35
but recently been quite interested in
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但最近我们的兴趣
01:37
the flame retardants, the brominated flame retardants
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集中在溴化物阻燃剂上。
01:40
that are in many, many things
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这种阻燃剂在大量
01:42
that we use in our everyday life,
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日常用品中都有存在，
01:44
from the cushions in the chairs
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无论是被我们坐着的
01:46
we're all sitting on
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椅子上的垫子，
01:48
to the plastic casings of our computers,
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还是电脑的塑料机箱，
01:51
our television sets and so on.
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抑或是电视机等等。
01:53
So we are tracking
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因此我们要追踪
01:55
how do these things get from
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这些有毒物质是如何
01:57
the products into the ocean,
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从日用品中最终流入大海
01:59
which is the final sink for them.
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这个最后的污水槽的。
02:01
And there's quite a complicated pathway for that
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有毒物质的积累过程相当复杂，
02:04
because, as these products age,
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因为当日用品老化时，
02:06
they get concentrated in dust,
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有毒物质就集中到了尘埃中。
02:08
and then they also get thrown out, so they go to the landfills.
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当日用品最终被丢弃后，它们就被运到了垃圾填埋场,
02:11
They wind up in waste water treatment plants.
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最终集中到了污水处理厂。
02:14
As you all know, we throw out billions
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众所周知，我们每年要报废
02:16
of computers and TVs every year.
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数十亿的电脑和电视机，
02:18
And those go to e-waste dumps.
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它们最终成为了电子垃圾。
02:20
And all that gets into surface waters,
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而所有进入地表水系统的物质，
02:22
eventually reaching the ocean, the final sink.
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最终都会流向海洋。
02:24
So, in our study,
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因此，在我们的研究中，
02:26
we did find quite high levels, as we expected,
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我们意料之中地在斑海豹体内
02:29
of these flame retardants in the harbor seals' bodies.
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发现了很高浓度的阻燃剂残留。
02:32
And we reported this.
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我们报告了这一结果，
02:34
It led to a ban of this neuro-toxic flame retardant
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最终使得这种叫做Deca的有神经毒性的阻燃剂
02:37
called Deca in Maine, where I am based,
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在缅因州被禁止使用，缅因州正是我的工作基地所在地。
02:40
and also then a phase-out,
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随后到去年年底，这种物质在全美境内
02:42
U.S.-wide, at the end of last year.
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也被逐渐禁止使用。
02:45
But we said, well, on the bright side,
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于是我们想至少从好的方面来看
02:47
our harbor seals at least will not be
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这些斑海豹不会在短期内
02:49
bursting into flame anytime soon.
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烧起来。
02:53
So then I got really curious,
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于是我作为一个毒物学家
02:55
myself, as a toxicologist,
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就(对我自己体内的化学物质)非常好奇，
02:57
and I donated some blood to my lab
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所以我捐献了一点自己的血给实验室
02:59
and said, "Okay, let's do it."
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然后说“好吧，让我们看看”。
03:01
Well, we detected 113 different compounds
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结果我们在我的血液中监测到了
03:04
in my blood.
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113种不同的化合物
03:06
And I must say, if any of you would have this done,
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而且我肯定，如果你们中间的一个也做同样的测试的话，
03:09
you'd probably find a similar profile,
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得到的一定是类似的结果，
03:11
or cocktail, as they call it.
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我们称之为“鸡尾酒”。
03:13
But I was the recipient
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但是，我被迫成为无辜的阻燃剂接受者
03:16
of a lot of flame retardant material for some reason.
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并非偶然。
03:19
And just to point out the levels --
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现在来看看这个浓度——
03:22
Americans have 10 to 40 times higher
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与欧洲人相比，
03:25
levels of these compounds in our bodies
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美国人体内这些化合物的含量
03:27
than the Europeans.
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高出了10-40倍。
03:29
Why? Because we are flame-retarding everything,
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为什么呢？因为我们对各种东西都在阻燃，
03:32
and we have weak regulations
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而我们对于有毒物质的控制
03:34
for toxic chemicals.
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还显得很薄弱。
03:36
But lo and behold, I'm one of the high-end individuals.
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但是你看，我还算是所谓的高端人才。
03:39
Lucky me.
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真是有幸。
03:41
But then I thought,
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然后我就想，
03:43
well, in case of a fire, I might be the last one to ignite.
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嗯，大概在火灾的时候，我会最后一个烧起来。
03:46
(Laughter)
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(笑)
03:49
So anyway, here's the problem --
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总之，现在有这样一个问题，
03:51
and it is a problem that we're looking at in the Gulf today --
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这也是我们在墨西哥湾关注的问题：
03:54
we're not regulating chemicals in this country properly.
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美国对于化学物质的管理还很不完善。
03:57
We're hardly regulating them at all.
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其实我们压根就没什么管理措施，
04:00
And we're letting industry run the show.
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而是让市场决定了一切。
04:02
And Jackie Savitz spoke this morning
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杰克 萨维茨(Jackie Cavitz)今天早上
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about Big Oil
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作了一场关于大石油公司(Big Oil)
04:06
and the propaganda
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及其品牌宣传的演讲，
04:08
and how we're all brainwashed
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他谈到我们是如何被
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with their, you know, lies and so forth.
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种种谎言洗脑。
04:14
Well, Big Chemical
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而我们今天要关注的
04:16
is what we're dealing with here.
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是大化工公司(Big Chemical)
04:18
And they're allowed to keep trade secrets,
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他们被允许保留商业机密，
04:20
so they don't even give the ingredients out.
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因此他们甚至无需公开原材料。
04:23
Plus they don't give health and safety data,
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而且他们还不提供有关健康与安全的数据，
04:25
so, consequently, they cannot be regulated
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因此在这些产品真正上市之前，
04:28
before they go to market.
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它们根本无法被监控。
04:31
So it's a case of innocent until proven guilty.
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所以这就是“无证据即无罪”的情形，
04:34
The burden of proof is not on the producer.
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而制造商根本没有提供证据的压力。
04:37
So I then was invited to go
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今年五月份，
04:39
to the Gulf in May.
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我受邀去墨西哥湾。
04:41
I went down there on
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我到那里去做一个
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a preliminary investigation
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初步调查，
04:45
to look into dispersants
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研究分散剂，
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and how they're going into the water column and so forth.
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及它们如何流入水系。
04:49
And I was told that I was
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人们说我是迄今为止
04:51
the only toxicologist to date
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唯一一个笨到
04:54
who was dumb enough to get into the water,
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去直接下水的毒物学家，
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but I did.
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但我就这么做了。
04:58
And we dove in the slick
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我们在没有任何防护措施的情况下
05:00
without even HazMat gear.
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潜入原油层下方。
05:03
And I did get sick.
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我果然生病了。
05:06
I got a ferocious sore throat two days later.
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两天以后我的喉咙就疼得厉害，
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I felt like my throat was on fire.
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就好像它着火了一样，
05:12
But it did pass.
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好在最后还是恢复了。
05:14
And what I did see in the water as we went down,
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而我在下潜过程中所见到的景象
05:17
what really shocked me -- and it's haunted me ever since --
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着实把我惊呆了，而且始终挥之不去。
05:20
because I could see the droplets of oil dispersing.
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我看见原油分散成小滴，
05:23
And as you go down, they're catching all kinds of plankton,
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在下降过程中黏附上各种浮游生物，
05:26
bumping into,
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和那些千丝万缕的、漂浮的生命体，
05:28
you know, little wisps of life
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碰撞在一起，
05:30
that are the food for the planktivores,
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成为以浮游生物为生的其它动物的食物，
05:33
the herring kind of fish.
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比如鲱鱼类。
05:36
And you could just see the web of death
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随着你逐渐下潜，
05:38
as you go down in the water column.
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你可以直接看到整个死亡网络。
05:40
Well, you know, we got into this
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当然，那些专家说，
05:42
in the beginning
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我们之所以会在海中看到这些景象，
05:44
as a trade-off, they say,
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是因为我们不得不在湿地
05:46
between the wetlands versus the ocean depth.
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和深海之间权衡取舍。
05:49
And I didn't agree with that
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我当时并不同意这个决定，
05:51
decision at the time; I still don't.
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今天我依然这么认为。
05:53
The decision was to protect the marshes.
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这个决定的本意是要保护海边的湿地，
05:56
When the oil gets into the marshes, you can't get it out.
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因为一旦原油进入湿地，就没法再弄出来了。
05:59
And as you know, there's been a very weak response,
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而我们也知道，直到最近，
06:01
up until recently,
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残油的收集工作
06:03
to actually collect the oil.
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依然进行得很少。
06:05
It's gotten much more aggressive.
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现在这个情况越来越严重了。
06:07
This is an Exxon slide showing what happens,
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这张幻灯片显示了瓦迪兹号事件的
06:10
the scenario and the trade-off.
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情形以及得失。
06:12
So this shows oil on the surface.
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这里显示的是海面上的油污。
06:14
You can see it getting up into the mangrove,
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你可以看到油污进入了红树林，
06:17
but it is not harming the corals
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但是还没有侵害到珊瑚礁，
06:20
or the sea grass, right.
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或者是海草。
06:22
So here we have the other scenario.
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现在我们看另一种情况。
06:25
If you disperse, the sea grass and the corals
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如果你分散油污，海草和珊瑚礁
06:27
are getting hit pretty hard,
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会受到很大的侵害，
06:29
but you're saving the mangrove.
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但是你却保住了红树林。
06:31
So this, to me, is like going to the eye doctor, okay?
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对我来说这就像是去看眼科医生。
06:34
Is it better with one or two?
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是一只眼睛好还是两只好？
06:37
(Laughter)
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(笑)
06:39
The problem is that we have
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现在的问题是
06:41
released so darn much of this stuff,
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我们在很短的时间内，
06:43
we're climbing up to two million gallons
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排放了太多的这类物质，
06:46
very quickly.
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将近200加仑。
06:49
And then there's the problem of the plumes.
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然后我们还有分散油柱的问题。
06:52
What plumes?
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起先他们试图否认：什么羽毛？（“分散油柱”plume也有羽毛的意思）
06:54
It turns out there are plumes.
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事实上分散油柱确实存在。
06:57
Independent researchers found that.
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是一些独立研究者们发现的。
06:59
And then there's the looming,
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另外还有不断迫近的
07:02
messy problem of human health,
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各种棘手的有关人类健康的问题，
07:04
reported human health effects.
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各种关于人类健康影响的报道。
07:06
And actually, one of our federal officials
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事实上，我们的一个联邦政府官员解释说
07:08
said that it was probably heat stress. So ...
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这很可能是热应力。我很无奈。
07:13
Having been in that water
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作为到过那片水域的人，
07:15
just for the short time I was there,
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尽管时间相对很短，
07:17
I can tell you, it is not heat stress.
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我可以告诉各位，这绝非单纯热应力的缘故。
07:19
There are volumes of volatile
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那里有大量的易挥发的
07:21
petroleum fumes coming off that water,
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石油烟气从水面上蒸腾而出，
07:24
plus the Corexit,
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在加上
07:26
which has solvent in it.
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含有有机溶剂的Corexit
07:28
So it is not at all rational.
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这个情况非常糟糕。
07:31
So what do we have? The BP show is going on.
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所以我们现在怎么办？BP仍然在演戏。
07:34
Our officials complained about Corexit,
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我们的官员一边指责Corexit
07:37
which is the most toxic
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这种在所有的分散剂中
07:40
line of dispersants.
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毒性最强烈的物质。
07:42
But heck, they're still using it,
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一边却继续使用Corexit，
07:44
and they used the most toxic one, the 9527,
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而且还是毒性最大的9527号,
07:47
until they ran out of supplies.
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直到9527号断货。
07:50
Now they're on 9500.
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现在他们使用9500号。
07:52
9527 had 2-butoxyethanol in it
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9527号含有乙二醇单丁醚，
07:55
that causes internal bleeding.
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它会导致内出血。
07:58
We know that from the Exxon Valdez spill, by the way.
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顺便提一句，这一点我们也是从瓦迪兹号事件中了解到的。
08:01
So what we're doing, we're putting compounds
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因此我们所做的就是把溶解于石油成分溶剂的
08:04
with petroleum solvents onto a petroleum spill.
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化合物投放到石油泄漏物中去。
08:07
Does this make sense?
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这一切有道理吗？
08:09
So this is the way it works.
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但这就是事实。
08:11
And I want to show you this cute little thing that happens here.
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我想给你们看一下这里发生的一个有趣的小现象。
08:14
It's a micelle.
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这是一个胶束，
08:16
Micelles form around the oil.
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通常在油滴外围形成。
08:19
And what happens first
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首先发生的是
08:21
is the solvents break into the oil,
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溶剂进入了油滴的
08:23
the lipid membrane,
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脂质膜层，
08:25
they let the surfactants in there.
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然后留下了表面活性剂。
08:27
The surfactants -- which are like things
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表面活性剂 - 就是我们
08:29
we use on fast food wrappers --
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涂在食物包装纸上的东西 -
08:31
they grab around the droplets of oil,
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能够抓住油滴，
08:33
and they make little, tiny droplets
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从而在细小的油滴外
08:35
with nice, little
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形成薄薄的
08:37
surfactant edges to them.
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表面活性剂层。
08:39
The thing to remember about the micelles --
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关于胶束我们要注意的是 -
08:42
these little floating
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这些小小的漂浮的
08:44
globules of toxin --
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含有毒物的小液滴，
08:46
is they are there to deliver.
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就是这些胶束在运送的东西。
08:48
They're like the FedEx guys.
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它们就像联邦快递。
08:50
And if you're a fish,
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如果你是一条鱼，
08:52
and you haven't gotten your glob in the morning,
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就算你早上有幸没撞上这团东西，
08:54
you're going to get it in the afternoon,
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那你晚上就该撞上了。你在劫难逃。
08:56
because they've got your number.
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它们盯上你了。
08:58
So from a toxicology perspective,
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所以从毒物学的角度来看，
09:01
this is really awful
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这是非常可怕的情形，
09:03
because Corexit and the dispersed oil
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因为当Corexit遇上分散的原油，
09:06
are much more toxic together
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它们的毒性
09:08
than either alone.
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有增无减。
09:10
And usually the exposure
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而生物一般都是
09:12
is a combined exposure.
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同时暴露在这两种物质之下。
09:14
The dispersants -- as I was saying --
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我前面提到过，分散剂的作用
09:17
their job is to break down
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就是分解破坏
09:19
the lipid membrane.
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脂质的外膜。
09:21
The solvents in them do that very efficiently.
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分散剂中含有的溶剂很容易就能做到这一点。
09:24
So they break down
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于是它们也分解了
09:26
lipid membranes in our body,
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我们体内的脂质薄膜，
09:28
starting with cells of the skin,
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从我们的皮肤细胞开始，
09:30
the cells of organs.
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一直到其它器官的细胞。
09:32
So it actually hastens
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因此它事实上是加快了
09:34
oil getting into the body
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原油进入我们体内的速度，
09:36
easily and readily.
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使之变得更快更易。
09:38
Oil contains hundreds of hydrocarbon compounds
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原油含有数百种碳氢化合物
09:41
and other compounds
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以及其它对我们体内
09:43
that are toxic to every organ in the body.
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任何器官都有害的化学成分。
09:46
And so with the dispersants combined,
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因此当它们与分散剂结合后，
09:48
you have this very synergistic
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就形成了一种强大的
09:50
combined toxicity.
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协同作战的有毒物质。
09:53
Corexit also contains petroleum solvents
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Corexit也含有石油溶剂
09:55
and many other toxic compounds.
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以及许多其它的有毒化合物。
09:57
And I'm part of a chat group,
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我个人是一个全国性的
09:59
which is a national group
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由毒物学家和化学家组成的
10:02
of toxicologists and chemists
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讨论团体的一员，
10:05
that are, you know, basically
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而我们主要做的就是
10:07
turning cartwheels trying to figure out what's in this stuff,
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想方设法去找出这些化合物里究竟有些什么，
10:10
and what is it doing and what are the interactions
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它们有什么作用，它们互相之间
10:13
of these chemicals, most of which we don't know,
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有什么反应——我们对此知之甚少——
10:16
and what are their byproducts,
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还有就是它们有哪些副产品，
10:18
which are usually more toxic than the parent compound.
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而这些副产品往往比原来的化合物更有毒性。
10:21
So we did find that Corexit 9500
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我们确实在Corexit 9500中
10:23
contains heavy metals, arsenic and chromium --
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发现了重金属、砷、还有铬，
10:26
arsenic at high enough levels
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其中砷的含量高到
10:29
to have cancer-causing effects.
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足以诱发癌症。
10:33
So this is what we have to look at,
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这就是我们所看到的
10:36
these, you know, ridiculous safety data sheets,
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这些荒谬可笑的产品安全列表。
10:39
which have nothing on them much.
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它们对我之前讲的那部分内容只字未提。
10:42
And now they were forced to release the ultimate list
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现在最终的产品安全报告被迫公布，
10:45
of everything that's in Corexit.
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列出了Corexit所含有的全部成分。
10:48
And guess what,
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你猜怎么样，
10:50
tons of stuff is missing.
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很多东西都被略去了。
10:52
Derivatives, derivatives, these are whole big groups
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衍生物、衍生物……这些都是许多许多化合物
10:55
of many, many compounds, these sorbitans.
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构成的大类，比如山梨醇。
10:58
And then you get down to the petroleum distillates,
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然后你看到石油的蒸馏成分，
11:00
which are the solvents,
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也就是溶剂，
11:02
hundreds of them.
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有好几百种。
11:04
They are not identified. And why?
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它们都没有在报告中被“检测”出。为什么？
11:07
Trade secrets again.
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又是所谓的贸易机密。
11:09
BP's running the show,
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BP正在上演一场戏，
11:11
and the Nalco company, this is all they have to do.
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还有Nalco公司。它们只要演演戏就好了 。
11:14
So far these ingredients have not been released,
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到目前为止有关这些成分的信息还没有被公布，
11:17
and toxicologists are actually going nuts
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而我们这些毒物学家简直要发疯了，
11:20
because we cannot predict with certainty
275
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因为这样我们就不能准确地判断出
11:23
what the interactions
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有哪些反应在进行，
11:25
and toxic results are going to be.
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以及它们的危害有多大。
11:27
But we do have quite a lot at risk
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但我们手上有那么多岌岌可危的问题，
11:29
down there, as we all know,
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我们都很清楚，
11:31
the 33 wildlife refuges,
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33个野生动物避难所。
11:34
so much wildlife
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那么多野生动物、鱼类、
11:36
and fish and diversity.
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以及生物多样性。
11:38
So we know from previous spills.
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我们从之前的原油泄漏事件中已经有了经验。
11:40
And then part of this is just
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这一切都是我晚上
11:42
part of my bad dreams.
285
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噩梦的根源。
11:44
And I appreciate being able
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我觉得很欣慰
11:46
to vent some of my
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我能在这里和你们说说
11:48
anguish upon you.
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我的各种担忧。
11:50
What we do know is that the corals are going to get hit hard.
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我们目前能够确定的是珊瑚礁会遭到重创。
11:54
And this is a study that was done
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这是在澳大利亚的
11:56
on the Australian coast,
291
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塔斯马尼亚海岸
11:58
the coast of Tasmania.
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所做的研究调查。
12:01
Corals are, you know, the home to
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众所周知 ，珊瑚礁是
12:03
about a quarter of all marine species.
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大约四分之一海洋生物的家。
12:05
And with the Corexit
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现在因为Corexit，
12:08
and the oil,
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因为泄露的原油，
12:10
there's zero percent fertilization.
297
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它们的繁殖率，归零。
12:13
With oil alone, there's 98 percent fertilization.
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如果只有原油，倒还有98%的繁殖率。
12:16
So they're a very sensitive species
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它们根本无法承受
12:18
to this combo.
300
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这个“Corexit石油大礼包”。
12:20
Here's another group.
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还有一个例子。
12:22
I could see myself easily in the water column.
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我能够在水柱中清晰地看到我自己。
12:25
The plankton and the plankton eaters,
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浮游生物和食用浮游生物的动物，
12:27
you know, these are the little herring fish
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——比如这些张着嘴巴
12:29
that go through the water column with their mouths open,
305
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在水柱中游动的小鲱鱼——
12:32
feeding indiscriminately
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它们无力分辨，
12:34
and just lapping up
307
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照单全收，包括
12:36
this brown pudding of toxic stuff.
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这些剧毒的棕色“布丁”。
12:40
And we do know from other studies
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而我们从其它调查中得知，
12:42
that this is a highly toxic mixture.
310
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这是一种剧毒的混合物。
12:44
See the oil and Corexit is causing death
311
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原油和Corexit加在一起，
12:47
at a much, much lower dose
312
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只需要比单纯原油泄漏少太多的量
12:50
than oil alone.
313
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就能导致大量生物死亡。
12:52
That's probably as far as what we do know
314
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这大概就是我们所确定的
12:54
about toxic effects.
315
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全部关于这些毒物的信息。
12:56
But my bad dreams go like this.
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但是我的噩梦还在继续。
12:59
The piscivorous fish,
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那些食用鱼类的鱼，
13:01
the cobia, grouper, amberjacks, those big fish,
318
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比如军曹鱼、石斑鱼、琥珀鱼，
13:04
also the tuna and sharks,
319
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还有大型鱼类，比如金枪鱼和鲨鱼，
13:06
are going to hit by this.
320
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都会被影响到。
13:08
And the gills are quite sensitive.
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鱼的鳃是很敏感的器官。
13:10
The respiratory system is very sensitive.
322
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整个呼吸系统都很敏感。
13:12
Think about it with
323
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让我们想象一下
13:14
the Corexit hitting the membranes,
324
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Corexit遇到粘膜以后的情况。
13:17
and it will clog up the gills,
325
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它会阻塞鱼的鳃，
13:20
and then these animals are going to be
326
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然后这些动物就会
13:22
getting something like what you call
327
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得一种类似于被你们叫做
13:24
chemical pneumonia,
328
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化学性肺炎的病，
13:26
trying to aspirate the compounds.
329
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因为它们在尝试吸出这些东西。
13:29
It also will cause internal bleeding
330
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它还会造成消化系统的
13:31
upon ingestion.
331
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内出血。
13:33
I'm very worried about the air-breathing mammals because I study them,
332
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我对于直接呼吸空气的动物很是担忧，因为它们是我的研究对象。
13:36
but also, the way their going to be exposed
333
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每当它们浮到海面
13:38
is every time they come to the surface to take a breath,
334
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试图呼吸的时候，
13:41
they're going to inhale these volatile fumes.
335
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它们就会被暴露在这些易挥发的烟气里。
13:44
And what does happen with that eventually
336
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而这些最终导致的
13:46
is pneumonia sets in
337
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就是肺炎，
13:49
and liver, kidney, brain damage.
338
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还有肝、肾、以及脑部的损伤。
13:52
The Corexit
339
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Corexit这种物质
13:54
is transporting the oil
340
819000
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会把原油传输到
13:56
into every membrane
341
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身体中的每一层隔膜
13:58
and every system of the body.
342
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和每一个系统。
14:00
And you're having
343
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然后你就会出现
14:02
a lot of different unpleasant effects,
344
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许多不适症状，
14:04
but burns to the eyes and mouth,
345
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比如眼睛和嘴部的灼烧感
14:07
skin ulcers, lesions.
346
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皮肤溃疡等病变。
14:09
And I think, personally,
347
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而且我个人认为
14:11
that we have not begun to see
348
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我们还没有看到
14:13
the impacts of this spill
349
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这次原油泄漏对于墨西哥湾的
14:15
on the wildlife of the Gulf.
350
840000
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野生动物们的影响
14:17
We started hypothesizing:
351
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我们不禁开始猜测：
14:19
what do we know?
352
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2000
我们究竟对事实知道多少？
14:21
what do with think would be a trophic cascade?
353
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什么又会造成食物链崩溃？
14:23
which means that somebody gets wiped out,
354
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2000
即当一个生物消失之后，
14:25
and then everything above
355
850000
2000
它食物链中的所有上级生物
14:27
that's eating those guys will crash.
356
852000
2000
都会一起消亡的现象。
14:29
So our thought was --
357
854000
3000
我们的想法
14:32
this is a simple thinking process, but ...
358
857000
2000
是一个很简单的构想 但至少
14:34
obviously the plankton, the planktivores,
359
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3000
会包括浮游生物和吃浮游生物的其它生物
14:37
and that's about as far as we got.
360
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目前我们就到这一步
14:39
And then it turns out we're not very good at figuring this stuff out.
361
864000
3000
并且我们发现我们对这些内容搞得不是很清楚。
14:42
This is what the Exxon Valdez scientists thought would happen,
362
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3000
这是关于瓦迪兹号事件的科学家的假想。
14:45
this trophic cascade
363
870000
2000
食物链崩溃会从
14:47
where you lose the kelp and the herring
364
872000
2000
海草和青鱼开始，
14:49
and other fishes and going up.
365
874000
2000
然后不断向食物链上级发展。
14:51
They thought that eventually the killer whale
366
876000
2000
他们认为虎鲸
14:53
would be at the top of this cascade.
367
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2000
会是这场崩溃的最终受害者。
14:55
And then here's what really happened,
368
880000
2000
然后事实是怎么样的呢？
14:57
much more complicated, much more specific.
369
882000
3000
真实的情况更加复杂，更加具体。
15:00
Actually the kelp
370
885000
2000
那些依附于石头上的
15:02
and the barnacles that attach to the rock
371
887000
3000
海草以及藤壶首当其冲，
15:05
were decimated by the combination
372
890000
2000
大批牺牲于
15:07
of Corexit and the oil.
373
892000
3000
Corexit和原油的混合物。
15:11
They were replaced by invasive species,
374
896000
3000
然后他们被入侵生物所取代
15:14
which had less holding power to the rock.
375
899000
3000
而这些新物种对于岩石的附着力比较弱
15:17
Storms came along.
376
902000
2000
一旦风暴袭来
15:19
They ripped out of the rock.
377
904000
2000
它们就会从岩石上脱落
15:21
And this was the entire food web for the sea ducks.
378
906000
3000
而它们恰恰是海鸭所赖以生存的食物
15:24
And as you know, we lost about 300,000 sea ducks
379
909000
3000
大约三十万只海鸭
15:27
from the Exxon Valdez spill,
380
912000
2000
在瓦迪兹事件中丧生，
15:29
and they haven't come back.
381
914000
3000
而它们的数量至今还没有恢复。
15:32
So we are launching
382
917000
2000
因此我们开始了
15:34
an independent study.
383
919000
2000
一项独立研究。
15:36
And by independent, I do not mean alone;
384
921000
3000
独立并不意味着独自完成
15:39
I mean independent in the sense
385
924000
2000
我所说的独立是指
15:41
of not tied to
386
926000
3000
我们和墨西哥湾
15:44
the kind of crime-scene secrecy
387
929000
2000
那群试图掩盖罪行的人
15:46
that's going on in the Gulf now.
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没有任何利害关系。
15:48
But we are actually going to be assessing toxic impacts,
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我们会评估毒物所造成的影响，
15:51
but we need lots and lots of partners
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但是我们需要非常多的合作伙伴
15:53
to do this intelligently.
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来交出一份有说服力的报告。
15:55
We have some of the partners lined up.
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已经有一些人表明了合作的意向。
15:57
And Dave Gallo signed on.
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戴夫 加罗也是其中一员
15:59
Sylvia's in here.
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还有塞维娅。
16:02
And we hope that some of you will help us.
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我们也希望你们中间会有人来帮助我们
16:05
My question to you is: why shouldn't we know?
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我们的问题是：为什么我们不能知道？
16:07
Don't we have the right to know?
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是我们没有知道的权利吗？
16:09
Surely we have the right to learn
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显然不是。我们有权利知道
16:12
what loss we are going through in the Gulf.
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墨西哥湾究竟遭受了怎样的损失
16:15
And my wish would be --
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我的希望是
16:18
for the gulf prize -- would be
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对于墨西哥湾事件的希望是：
16:20
that we have the truth.
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我们能够了解真相。
16:23
Whatever it is, please let us have the truth.
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无论真相是什么，至少，请让我们了解它。
16:26
And to get there,
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为了达到这一目标，
16:28
we need to do the assessment.
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我们需要做更详尽的评估。
16:31
So I appreciate being here. Thank you.
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很荣幸能在这里发言。谢谢！
16:33
(Applause)
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(鼓掌)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Susan Shaw - Marine toxicologistSusan Shaw is an internationally recognized marine toxicologist, author and explorer.
Why you should listen
For two decades, Susan Shaw has investigated the effects of environmental chemicals in marine animals. She is credited as the first scientist to show that flame-retardant chemicals in consumer products have contaminated marine mammals and commercially important fish stocks in the northwest Atlantic Ocean.
An outspoken and influential voice on ocean pollution, Shaw dove in the Gulf oil slick in May and observed first-hand how oil and dispersants are impacting life in the water column. The experience prompted her to call for a collaborative, Gulf-wide effort to track effects as the toxins ripple through the food web. She was instrumental in creating the Consensus Statement opposing further use of dispersants in the Gulf.
Shaw serves on the International Panel on Chemical Pollution, a select group of scientists urging policymakers to improve management of toxic chemicals. She travels throughout the US, Europe and Asia as a speaker on the ocean crisis and chemical pollution.
Susan Shaw | Speaker | TED.com