A federal study of mercury contamination released Wednesday found the toxic substance in every fish tested at nearly 300 streams across the United States, underscoring how widespread mercury pollution has become.
聯邦政府汞（水銀）污染研究報告週三出爐，結果從全美將近300條河流中取樣檢驗的每一條魚體內，都發現了汞這種有毒物質，突顯出汞污染之普遍程度。
The study by the U.S. Geological Survey is the most comprehensive look to date at mercury in the nation's streams. From 1998 to 2005, scientists collected and tested more than a thousand fish from 291 streams nationwide. While all fish had traces of mercury contamination, only about a quarter had levels exceeding what the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe for people eating average amounts of fish.
在所有觀測美國河流含汞情形的研究中，美國地質調查局的研究是目前最完整的。1998年至2005年間，科學家從全國291條河流中，採樣並檢驗超過一千條魚。雖然所有的魚樣本體內都檢驗出汞污染，不過其中只有四分之一的魚，汞含量超過美國環境保護局所設定的安全標準；含量在標準值以下的魚，人類適量食用都是安全的。
"This science sends a clear message that our country must continue to confront pollution, restore our nation's waterways, and protect the public from potential health dangers," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement.
美國內政部長沙拉薩在聲明中表示：「這項科學研究傳達出一個很清楚的訊息，那就是我們必須繼續與污染對抗，讓國內的水道恢復原貌，保護人民不致遭遇潛在的健康威脅。」
Mercury can damage the nervous system and cause learning disabilities in developing fetuses and young children. The main source of mercury to most of the streams tested, according to the researchers, is emissions from coal-fired power plants. The mercury released from smokestacks rains down into waterways, where natural processes convert it into methylmercury, a form that allows the toxin to wind its way up the food chain into fish.
汞會對人類的神經系統造成損害，而且有可能導致發育中的胎兒及幼兒，產生學習障礙。根據研究人員指出，受檢河流中所含的汞物質，大多是火力發電廠所排放出來的。汞經由煙囪排放至空氣中，然後隨著雨水沉降流入水道，在水道中經過天然程序轉換成甲基水銀，這種形式的汞毒素可以進入食物鏈，然後被魚類食用。
Some of the highest levels in fish were detected in the remote blackwater streams along the coasts of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana, where surrounding forests and wetlands help in the conversion.
含汞量最高的魚，有些是來自偏遠的黑水河流，這些河流流經南北卡羅來納州、喬治亞州、佛羅里達州以及路易斯安那州，那一帶的森林與溼地有助於促進汞的轉換。
Mercury also was detected in high concentrations in Western streams that drain areas mined for mercury and gold. At about 59 of the streams, mostly in the West, mining could be contributing to the mercury levels, the researchers said.
西部地區有些河流流經開採汞和黃金的礦區，這些河流也同樣檢驗出高濃度的汞含量。研究指出，約有59條河流（大多位於西部地區）中的高含汞量，是採礦所造成的。
All but two states, Alaska and Wyoming, have issued fish-consumption advisories because of mercury contamination.
只有阿拉斯加和懷俄明兩州，因為汞污染而被建議謹慎食用魚類。
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