科学家Matthew Shribman对纳米塑料的危险发出了可怕的警告

A visiting UK scientist has a stark warning for humanity - we are now breathing in plastic.

一位来访的英国科学家对人类发出了一个严厉的警告——人类正在吸入塑料。

Matthew Shribman is coming to New Zealand to spread his message about the rising threat of microplastics in the ocean and the air.

马修·斯里布曼(Matthew Shribman)将前往新西兰，传播他关于海洋和空气中微型塑料日益增长的威胁的信息。

He says minuscule fragments of plastic, called nanoplastics, are so fine they're in the air we breathe. Once inhaled, these pieces of plastic can enter the human bloodstream.

他说，被称为纳米塑料的微小塑料碎片，在我们呼吸的空气中非常细微。一旦吸入，这些塑料片就可以进入人体血液。

Shribman's visit comes off the back of his new documentary, Plastic in the Air, which rejects the idea that plastic can simply be removed from the environment.

斯里布曼的这次访问是在他的新纪录片《空气中的塑料》的背景下进行的，该纪录片否定了塑料可以简单地从环境中移除的观点。

The'Great Pacific Garbage Patch'is not a floating island of waste that can easily be cleaned up - that's a myth, Shribman says in a statement.

斯里布曼在一份声明中说:“‘大太平洋垃圾带’不是一个可以轻易清理的垃圾漂浮岛——这是一个神话。”

It's a colossal area full of tiny fragments of plastic, which are incredibly difficult to remove without harming ocean life such as plankton and algae. To make matters worse, most plastic sinks and is totally inaccessible.

“这是一个巨大的区域，充满了微小的塑料碎片，很难在不伤害海洋生物(如浮游生物和藻类)的情况下清除它们。更糟糕的是，大多数塑料水槽，是完全不可接近的。”

Shribman says the rise of eco-plastics or 'biodegradable' plastics is also fraught with problems.

斯里布曼标识，生态塑料或“可生物降解”塑料的兴起也充满了问题。

Some are actually tiny pieces of normal plastic held together by plant material, while others only degrade over hundreds of years, he says.

“有些塑料实际上是由植物材料粘在一起的微小的普通塑料碎片，而有些则要经过几百年才能降解。”

Most'compostable'plastics will only degrade in industrial facilities.

“大多数‘可降解’塑料只能在工业设施中降解。”

Recycling too isn't the panacea most people think it is, he says, as a"huge portion" of waste put in recycling bins actually ends up in landfill.

他说，回收也不是大多数人认为的灵丹妙药，因为“很大一部分”被放入回收箱的垃圾最后都被填埋了。

We've been sold a story that recycling is enough, and it's a lie. Recycling plastic is like trying to heal a fatal wound by drinking the blood with a straw, Shribman says

“我们被灌输了这样一种观念:回收利用就足够了，但这是一个谎言。回收塑料就像试图用吸管吸血来治愈致命的伤口一样。”斯里布曼说。

We need to stop the plastic at the source before it destroys the natural world we depend upon for our survival.

“我们需要从源头上阻止塑料的使用，以免它破坏我们赖以生存的自然世界。”

As a result, Shribman says we need to halt almost all single-use plastic now.

因此，斯里布曼说我们现在需要停止几乎所有的一次性塑料。

There are a few places where plastic provides benefits we can't get with other materials, like in emergency medicine, but most plastic that's designed to be used just once is a blight, poisoning our planet and its inhabitants, he argues.

他说:“某些方面，塑料的确有其他材料无法提供的优点，比如急救药品，但大多数塑料的设计是一次性的，这是一种灾难，会毒害我们的地球和地球上的居民。”

Also, the more plastic destroys the natural world, the more it accelerates the climate crisis too.

“此外，塑料对自然界的破坏越多，也就越加剧了气候危机。”