洒在洛杉矶火灾上的粉色物质安全吗？
📖 逐句对照翻译
The efforts to battle widespread fires across Los Angeles included aircraft drops of a bright red and pink substance.
扑救洛杉矶各地大火的工作包括用飞机投放一种亮红色和粉红色的物质。
The material covered forests, homes, cars, and other things in the path of the wind-fueled fires.
这些材料覆盖了被风助燃的大火所波及的森林、房屋、汽车以及其他物品。
Because the substance was dropped in many residential areas, some people have wondered how safe it is.
由于这种物质被投放在许多居民区，一些人对其安全性感到好奇。
The material is a fire retardant.
这种材料是一种阻燃剂。
The kind dropped around Los Angeles was mostly a product called Phos-Chek.
在洛杉矶附近投放的这种物质大多是一种叫做Phos-Chek的产品。
The substance has been used by the U.S. Forest Service to fight fires since the 1960s.
自20世纪60年代以来，美国林业局一直使用这种物质来灭火。
Jason Colquhoun is a 53-year-old pilot with HeliQwest, an aircraft company specializing in firefighting activities.
杰森·科尔库霍恩是一名53岁的飞行员，就职于HeliQwest，这是一家专门从事消防活动的航空公司。
He told the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) that using the Barbie-pink material makes his job easier.
他告诉法国新闻机构法新社，使用芭比粉色材料让他的工作变得更轻松。
"You can see it so easily ... it's amazing," he said.
“你能这么轻易地看到它……真是太神奇了，”他说。
Daniel McCurry is an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southern California.
丹尼尔·麦柯里是南加州大学土木与环境工程系的副教授。
He said that in recent weeks, Phos-Chek had been dropped in residential areas more than ever before.
他说，最近几周，Phos-Chek被投放到居民区的次数比以往任何时候都要多。
That fact has led many to question its safety.
这一事实让许多人对其安全性产生了质疑。
Phos-Chek is sold by fire protection equipment supplier Perimeter Solutions.
Phos-Chek由消防设备供应商Perimeter Solutions销售。
It is a mixture of mostly ammonium phosphate or ammonium polyphosphate.
它主要是磷酸铵或聚磷酸铵的混合物。
These substances are also used to produce fertilizer.
这些物质也用于生产肥料。
Other chemicals are added to the mixture to give it color.
混合物中还添加了其他化学物质以赋予其颜色。
Perimeter told AFP the substance is designed to be one color.
佩里米特告诉法新社，这种物质被设计成只有一种颜色。
But it can look different depending on time of day, lighting, or smoke.
但它会因一天中的时间、光线或烟雾而看起来不同。
The bright pink color helps pilots as they try to make sure they have covered a whole area, Colquhoun explained.
科尔库霍恩解释说，这种亮粉色有助于飞行员确认他们已经覆盖了整个区域。
He noted that when pilots drop water from the air, they have to search for "the shine and the darkness" to know where to make the next drop.
他指出，飞行员从空中洒水时，必须寻找“光亮和暗处”，才能知道下一次该在哪里洒水。
The colorful retardant, however, is "so much easier to spot," Colquhoun said.
然而，科尔库霍恩表示，这种彩色的阻燃剂“更容易被发现”。
McCurry said another reason it is better than water is that it keeps working even after the water it is mixed with dries.
麦柯里说，它比水更好的另一个原因是，即使混合的水干了，它也能继续发挥作用。
Phos-Chek is made thick so the wind does not blow it away and to ensure that it covers the desired area.
Phos-Chek被制成浓稠状，以防被风吹散，并确保其覆盖到预定区域。
McCurry explained the substance works by forming a coating that will not burn.
麦柯里解释说，这种物质的原理是形成一层不会燃烧的涂层。
After the water dries up, the retardant keeps working until rain washes it into the ground.
水分蒸发后，阻燃剂会继续发挥作用，直到雨水将其冲刷入土壤中。
McCurry said a former firefighter told him that in a high-intensity fire the substance is "not much use."
麦柯里说，一名前消防员告诉他，在大火中，这种物质“没什么用”。
He added that the high winds driving the fires in Los Angeles may have limited its effectiveness.
他补充说，洛杉矶的大风助长了火势，可能限制了其效果。
U.S. Forest Service spokesperson Wade Muehlhof said the agency only uses retardants that meet U.S. government rules for not being harmful to animals, humans, or things living in water.
美国林务局发言人韦德·米尔霍夫表示，该机构只使用符合美国政府规定的阻燃剂，这些阻燃剂对动物、人类或水生生物无害。
He told AFP the Forest Service usually does not drop the retardant in waterways and areas home to endangered animals -- unless the fire is threatening human life or public safety.
他告诉法新社，林业局通常不会向水道和濒危动物的栖息地投放阻燃剂——除非火灾威胁到人命或公共安全。
But accidents do happen, he said, and the wind may blow it into such areas.
但他说，事故确实会发生，风可能会把它吹到这些区域。
McCurry said he believes Phos-Chek is “likely not harmless to the environment” now.
麦柯里表示，他认为Phos-Chek现在“很可能对环境并非无害”。
But, he added, "On the other hand, the human health impact is still a little unclear."
但他补充道：“另一方面，对人类健康的影响仍不太明确。”
He noted that it would take "a lot" of retardant to poison, say, a large body of water.
他指出，要想污染一大片水域，比如说，需要“大量”的阻燃剂。
But he said that as firefighters battled the Los Angeles fires, the substance was dropped on a lot of neighborhoods in “unprecedented” amounts.
但他表示，当消防员奋力扑救洛杉矶大火时，这种物质被前所未有地大量投放到了许多社区。
McCurry said Phos-Chek is more often used further from populated areas, or in lesser amounts.
麦库瑞表示，Phos-Chek通常更多用于远离人口密集区的地方，或是用量较少。
"So, who knows," he added.
所以，谁知道呢，他补充道。
I’m Jill Robbins.
我是吉尔·罗宾斯。
Huw Griffith and Sarah Titterton reported this story for Agence France-Presse.
休·格里菲思和莎拉·蒂特顿为法新社报道了此事。
Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English.
吉尔·罗宾斯为《学习英语》改编了它。
