据美国媒体报道，2月3日晚，美国诺福克南方铁路公司一货运列车驶经俄亥俄州东巴勒斯坦镇时，因机械故障发生事故，导致约50节车厢脱轨。其中，10节车厢运载有毒化学品，5节运载易燃且致癌气体氯乙烯。除了此前公布的氯乙烯外，脱轨列车上还装载有乙二醇单丁醚、丙烯酸异辛酯、异丁烯等有毒化学品。列车脱轨导致有毒气体扩散后，相关部门和官员极力淡化此次事故的影响，甚至避而不谈。2月8日，本次事故发生地俄亥俄州东巴勒斯坦城居民的强制疏散令被当地政府撤销，理由是“样本监测显示当地空气和水体安全”。但是，不少当地居民表示，弥漫在空气中的刺鼻气味让该说法难以信服，因为他们依然可以闻到，一些人甚至出现头疼恶心的症状。专家和当地居民对事故造成的健康和生态危机深感忧虑。
1. hazardous material 危险物质、危险材料 Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine Tuesday called for a congressional investigation following the Feb. 3 train derailment near East Palestine, Ohio — in which 38 rail cars derailed, including 11 which contained hazardous materials. 周二，俄亥俄州州长迈克·德温呼吁国会对2月3日在俄亥俄州东巴勒斯坦附近发生的火车脱轨事件进行调查。该事件中有38节火车车厢脱轨，其中11节车厢运输了危险材料。 （英文摘自2023.2.14 Cbs News 网站） At a news conference Tuesday, DeWine told reporters he was informed that the train, prior to its derailment, had not been considered a “high hazardous material train,” so the state was not notified that it was passing through. 周二的新闻发布会上，德温告诉记者，这列火车在脱轨之前，并没有被告知是“高危物资列车”，所以该州没有被通知它正在通行。 （英文摘自2023.2.14 Cbs News 网站） 2. vinyl chloride 氯乙烯 On Feb. 3, a train carrying vinyl chloride, a dangerous colorless gas, and operated by the transportation company Norfolk Southern Railroad derailed in Columbiana County, Ohio, which is located along the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. 2月3日，由诺福克南方铁路公司运营的一列运载氯乙烯（一种危险的无色气体）的火车在俄亥俄州哥伦布亚纳县脱轨，该县位于俄亥俄州和宾夕法尼亚州边境。 （英文摘自2023.2.13 Fox News 网站） ▲图片来源：Cbsnews
On 6 February, due to concerns about a large explosion, an EPA team conducted what officials called a controlled burn of vinyl chloride from five cars, diverting the chemical into a trench and burning it off. When burned, vinyl chloride creates phosgene and hydrogen chloride, which are toxic to people at high concentrations. 2月6日，由于担心发生大规模爆炸，环保局的一个小组对五辆汽车上的氯乙烯进行了官员所谓的控制性燃烧，将化学品转移到一个沟渠中并烧掉。氯乙烯燃烧后会产生光气和氯化氢，浓度高时对人体呈现致毒性。 （英文摘自2023.2.14 New scientist 网站） 3. flammable 易燃的 “They call them bomb trains,” said Ratner, describing trains barreling through town at high rates of speed with flammable materials. 拉特纳说：“他们称之为炸弹列车，”他描述了火车带着易燃材料高速驶过小镇的情况。 （英文摘自2023.2.15 Abc News 网站） ▲图片来源：New scientist
The train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3 was operated by Norfolk Southern, a rail corporation based in Atlanta. Hazardous chemicals — including vinyl chloride, a toxic flammable gas — were released after the crash, causing a massive fire to break out and smoke to billow over the town. 2月3日，在俄亥俄州东巴勒斯坦出轨的火车是由总部设在亚特兰大的铁路公司诺福克南方铁路公司运营的。事故发生后，危险化学品——包括有毒的易燃气体氯乙烯——被泄漏，引发了一场大火，浓烟滚滚，笼罩了整个小镇。 （英文摘自2023.2.15 Politico 网站） 4. cancer clusters 癌症聚集区
“There’s a lot of what ifs, and we’re going to be looking at this thing 5, 10, 15, 20 years down the line and wondering, ‘Gee, cancer clusters could pop up, you know, well water could go bad.’” “有很多如果，我们将在5年、10年、15年、20年后回看，并想知道，‘哎呀，癌症聚集区可能突然出现，你知道，井水可能变质。’” （英文摘自2023.2.13 Fox News 网站） ▲图片来源：New scientist “I was surprised when they quickly told the people they could return home... There are a lot of what-ifs, and we’re going to be looking at this thing five, ten, fifteen, twenty years down the line and wondering, if cancer clusters could pop up or well water could go bad,” Caggiano told WYTV’s Jennifer Rodriguez. Caggiano告诉WYTV的Jennifer Rodriguez：“当他们迅速告诉人们他们可以回家时，我很惊讶......有很多假设，我们将在5年、10年、15年、20年后审视这件事，想知道是否会出现癌症聚集区或井水发生变质。” （英文摘自2023.2.13 RealClearPolitics 网站） 5. derailment 脱轨事件
Evacuated residents returned to their homes last week but residents report concerns over the lingering effects of the chemicals in the air, water and soil even as officials monitoring the area have deemed it safe. Officials are still investigating the potential long-term environmental impacts of the derailment. 上周，被疏散的居民回到了他们的家中，尽管监测该地区的官员认为目前是安全的，但当地居民仍然担心化学物质在空气、水和土壤中的持续影响。官方目前仍在调查脱轨事件对环境的潜在长期影响。 （英文摘自2023.2.15 the Guardian 网站） ▲图片来源：Newscientist
A train derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border last Friday has forced residents living nearby to evacuate their homes for fear they could be injured or even killed by exposure to the toxic chemicals in some of the rail cars. 上周五，俄亥俄州和宾夕法尼亚州边境附近的火车脱轨事件迫使附近的居民搬离家园，他们担心暴露在车厢载的有毒化学品中可能会致伤甚至致死。 （英文摘自2023.2.7 the Washington Post 网站） 6. carcinogen 致癌物 Vinyl chloride is also a carcinogen that’s been linked to increased risk of liver cancer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that breathing vinyl chloride over long periods “may be connected” to brain cancer, lung cancers and some cancers of the blood. 氯乙烯也是一种致癌物质，会增加患肝癌的风险。美国疾病控制和预防中心警告群众长期吸入氯乙烯“可能会”引发脑癌、肺癌和一些血癌。 （英文摘自2023.2.7 the Washington Post 网站） Local business owners and residents are suing Norfolk Southern in an effort to get the company to cover medical screenings for residents within a 30-mile radius of the derailment. The lawsuit argues that the company “failed to exercise reasonable care to protect” local residents, who were “exposed to toxic substances, toxic fumes and carcinogens”. 当地企业和居民正在起诉诺福克南方铁路公司，试图让该公司为脱轨事故30英里半径内的居民提供医疗检查。诉讼认为，该公司“未能合理地保护”当地居民，使他们“暴露在有毒物质、有毒烟气和致癌物中”。 （英文摘自2023.2.15 the Guardian 网站）
▲图片来源：The New York Times 7. whisk away 拂去，消除 Four Chinese students in Pittsburg, which is about one hour away from East Palestine, Ohio, said that the local government has tried to whisk away danger of spillover of the incident, yet the public is suspicious. 在距离俄亥俄州东巴勒斯坦约一小时车程的匹兹堡市，四名中国留学生表示，当地政府努力消除事件外溢的危险，然而公众却心存疑虑。 （英文摘自2023.2.14 the Global Times 网站） “The Ohio accident actually exposed the fact that U.S. is suffering from ‘political cancer’ as the government now whisked away simmering public concerns over a health catastrophe, but politicians tried a repertoire of tricks to make a fuss about a harmless Chinese balloon,” said the academic, Li Haidong of the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University. 中国外交学院国际关系研究所的李海东表示：“俄亥俄州的事故实际上暴露了美国患有‘政治癌症’的事实，因为政府正拂去公众对一场健康灾难的担忧，而政客们却试图用各种伎俩对一个无害的中国气球大肆渲染。” （英文摘自2023.2.15 Breitbart 网站） 核稿：文晶 许馨匀
