据外媒4月27日 道，美国已经连续数十年向太平洋倾倒DDT杀虫剂废料。
图源：洛杉矶时
Scientists found 27,000 barrel-like objects on the seafloor about 12 miles (19.3 kilometers) offshore Los Angeles, local CBS news channel reported Tuesday, saying it confirmed the existence of a DDT dump site in the waters off the coast of Southern California.
据CBS新闻频道27日 道，科学家在洛杉矶离岸12英里的海域发现了2.7万个桶状物，并且确认了南加州附近海域存在着DDT倾倒场。
废料桶之多“好比在银河系数星星”
据 道，加利福尼亚大学的科学家在投放深海机器人进行其他研究时偶然发现，洛杉矶附近海底3000英尺处，堆积着大量DDT酸性物质储存桶。
The report said a team from University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography used two deep-sea robots to map more than 36,000 acres (145.7 square kilometers) of seafloor between Catalina Island and the Los Angeles County coast over two weeks in March.
Among more than 100,000 objects on the seafloor imaged by sonar as deep as about 1,000 meters blow, 27,000 were classified as barrel-like, and it could contain DDT inside, the report said, adding even though samples would be taken to see what was inside the barrels, the area had already been found to contain high levels of DDT in sediments and the ecosystem.
洛杉矶沿海DDT倾倒场之大远超科学家预期，令人震惊
据《洛杉矶时 》 道，研究团队试图记录这些被抛掷海底的储存桶数量，但发现该水下垃圾场远大于预期。文章写到，这好比“在银河系中数星星”。
As the scientists on deck began interpreting sonar images gathered by two deep-sea robots, they were quickly overwhelmed. It was like trying to count stars in the Milky Way.
当甲板上的科学家们开始归纳分析由这两个深海机器人收集的声呐图像时，他们很快便不堪重负。这就好比在银河系中数星星。
The dumpsite, it turned out, was much, much bigger than expected. After spending two weeks surveying a swath of seafloor larger than the city of San Francisco, the scientists could find no end to the dumping ground. They could’ve kept going in any direction, they said, and uncovered even more.
事实证明，这个水下垃圾场远大于预期。在花了两个星期的时间调查这个比旧金山还要大的海底之后，科学家们才发现倾倒场没有尽头。据介绍，如若他们朝着任何方向继续行进，甚至会发现更多废料桶。
图中线条是自主水下航行器的路径，而散落的白色斑点就是桶和碎片的声呐数据。图源：洛杉矶时
而这些被废弃的储存桶上，有明显人为凿开的痕迹。
至少有767吨DDT
被排入太平洋
臭名昭著的DDT杀虫剂是世卫组织认定的2A类致癌物，且一旦进入生态系统极难降解。
据 道，20世纪80年代初期，洛杉矶的一位年轻科学家听闻，全美最大DDT生产商蒙特罗斯曾将有毒废物直接倾倒入海洋。而这家公司的工厂当时就位于洛杉矶。
那时，人们十分关注污水处理不当所带来的污染问题。于是，这位对深海倾倒感到好奇的科学家开始四处探访。梳理后发现，在1947年至1961年之间，可能有多达767吨的DDT被排入了海洋。
He called Montrose, and to his surprise, the staff pulled out all their files. He and a team of regulatory scientists combed through volumes of shipping logs, which showed that more than 2,000 barrels of DDT-laced sludge were dumped each month. They did the math: Between 1947 and 1961, as much as 767 tons of DDT could have gone into the ocean.
这位科学家跟蒙特罗斯取得了联系。令他惊讶的是，工作人员拿出了所有的文件。在和一组科学家对大量的运输日志进行梳理后，他们发现，每个月都有超过2,000桶DDT被倾倒入海。科学家们算了一笔账，在1947年至1961年之间，可能有多达767吨的DDT被排入了海洋。
一份1958年的运输日志显示，在该次运输中2310桶“酸性污泥”被倾倒入海洋。
1958年的运输日志 图源：洛杉矶时
“We found actual photos of the workers at 2 in the morning dumping — not only dumping barrels off of the barges in the middle of the Santa Monica Basin,” he said, “but before they would dump the barrels, they would take a big ax or hatchet to them, and cut them open on purpose so they would sink.”
这位科学家表示，“我们发现了工人们在凌晨2点进行倾倒的真实照片——他们并不仅仅是在圣莫尼卡盆地中部的驳船上倾倒这些桶。在倒桶之前，为了这些桶能够下沉，他们甚至会花时间用斧头砍开它们，然后故意将它们剖开开。”
被砍开的废料桶 图源：洛杉矶时
1962年，《寂静的春天》一书中曾提到，由于DDT进入了食物链，美国国鸟白头海雕几近灭绝。
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