06/08/10
These people swimming
in the oil-contaminated waters
of Gulf Shores, Alabama,
are making a mistake.
Crude oil is known to irritate
eyes, lungs and skin.
The fumes can be dangerous to
anyone with
heart and lung disease.
But the real risk isn't for
these swimmers.
It's for the people out in the Gulf
working on the cleanup every day.
Crude oil vapors can cause
a whole array of health problems:
Headaches, dizziness,
nausea, vomiting,
shortness of breath, cough.
But the real x-factor
in terms of danger
is the millions of gallons of
dispersants used in the Gulf.
The effects of the mix of oil and
dispersants on you and health
has never been studied.
We really don't know
what it's going to do
over even the short term,
let alone
the long term in the Gulf.
原油で汚染された海で
泳ぐ人がいるが やめるべきだ。
原油は目や肺や肌を刺激する。
気化すると心臓や肺にも危険だ。
本当に危険にさらされているのは
毎日 清掃している人々だ。
原油が気化したガスは―
頭痛やめまい
吐き気などを引き起こします。
だが原油より未知数なのは
何百万ガロンもの分散剤。
原油と混じると
どう影響するかは不明だ。
長期的な影響はもとより
短期的な影響さえわかっていません。
