bleaching boundless

夏天到了，爱美的女士们又要开始多多地涂防晒霜了，因为大家都知道，防晒霜可以防黑抗衰老。但是美国食品和药物管理局近日开展的一项研究发现，防晒霜中的一些成分会在使用一天后就进入血液，并在人体内滞留24个小时以上。这些成分会不会给健康造成危害呢？

Photo by Salvador Martin Yeste on Unsplash

It took just one day of use for several common sunscreen ingredients to enter the bloodstream at levels high enough to trigger a government safety investigation, according to a pilot study conducted by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, an arm of the US Food and Drug Administration.

根据美国食品和药物管理局下属的药品评价和研究中心开展的一项初步研究，防晒霜中的几种常见成分在涂抹一天后就会进入血液，且浓度高到足以启动政府安全调查。

The study, published Monday in the medical journal JAMA, also found that the blood concentration of three of the ingredients continued to rise as daily use continued and then remained in the body for at least 24 hours after sunscreen use ended.

5月6日发表在医学期刊《美国医学会杂志》的这项研究发现，三种防晒霜成分在血液中的浓度在日常使用后持续增加，而且在停止使用防晒霜后，这些成分在人体内至少会滞留24个小时。

The four chemicals studied -- avobenzone, oxybenzone, ecamsule and octocrylene -- are part of a dozen that the FDA recently said needed to be researched by manufacturers before they could be considered "generally regarded as safe and effective."

研究中涉及的四种防晒霜成分——阿伏苯宗、氧苯酮、依茨舒、奥克立林是食品和药物管理局近日要求制造商调查的12种化学成分中的一部分，以确定它们是否“普遍安全有效”。

In the United States, sunscreens were originally approved as an over-the-counter solution to sunburn. They came in two types: one using chemical combos to filter the sun, the other using minerals to block the sun such as titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, which leave a telltale white coating. With many people not wanting to sport a white tint, the popularity of the chemical sunscreens soared.

在美国，防晒霜原本是针对晒伤开出的非处方药。防晒霜分为两种：一种是用化合物来过滤阳光，另一种是用二氧化钛或氧化锌等矿物质来阻隔阳光，矿物质防晒霜会在皮肤上留下一层白色粉末。因为许多人都不喜欢皮肤上留下白色痕迹，所以化合物防晒霜变得更加受欢迎。

over-the-counter: adj. 非处方的

telltale['t?ltel]: adj. 泄密的

Because of the way they were used at the time, there wasn't a lot of concern about a potential health impact. But that soon changed, and the FDA began to ask the industry for safety testing, said David Andrews, senior scientist at the EWG.

环境工作组的资深科学家戴维·安德鲁斯说，由于当时防晒霜的使用方式，人们并不担心防晒霜的潜在健康影响。不过情况很快就发生了改变，因此食品和药物管理局开始要求防晒霜产业进行安全检测。

"They were originally used in small quantities to prevent sunburn on vacation," Andrews said. "Now they recommend applying these every day, applying them to large parts of your body. And the FDA began raising concerns."

安德鲁斯说：“原本人们只是在度假的时候少量使用防晒霜，以防止被晒伤。但现在商家建议人们每天都使用防晒霜，并在身体上大面积地涂抹。因此食品和药物管理局开始提醒人们注意。”

The new FDA study enrolled 24 healthy volunteers who were randomly assigned to a spray or lotion sunscreen that contained avobenzone, oxybenzone or octocrylene as ingredients or a crème sunscreen that contained the chemical ecamsule.

食品和药物管理局的这项新研究招募了24名健康的志愿者，随机让他们使用含有阿伏苯宗、氧苯酮或奥克立林的防晒喷雾或防晒乳液，或使用含有依茨舒的防晒霜。

The volunteers were asked to put their assigned sunscreen on 75% of their bodies four times each day for four days. Thirty blood samples were taken from each volunteer over seven days.

志愿者被要求将指定的防晒霜涂在身体四分之三的皮肤上，每天涂四次，连续涂四天。在七天时间内，研究人员从每名志愿者身上抽取30份血样。

Of the six people using the ecamsule cream, five had levels of the chemical in their blood considered statistically significant by the end of day one. For the other three chemicals, especially oxybenzone, all of the volunteers showed significant levels after the first day.

使用含有依茨舒的防晒霜的6个人当中，有5个人的血液中所含的化学成分在使用一天后显著增加。至于其他三种化学成分，尤其是氧苯酮，所有志愿者在使用一天后血液中的化学成分显著增加。

"Looking through the results tables of the study, one thing about oxybenzone stood out," Andrews said. "Oxybenzone was absorbed into the body at about 50 to 100 times higher concentration than any of these other three chemicals they tested."

安德鲁斯说：“研究结果显示，氧苯酮被人体吸收的浓度比测试的其他三种化合物中的任何一种高出50到100倍。”

In 2008, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed urine samples collected by a government study and found oxybenzone in 97% of the samples. Since then, studies have shown a potential link between oxybenzone and lower testosterone levels in adolescent boys, hormone changes in men, and shorter pregnancies and disrupted birth weights in babies.

2008年，美国疾病控制和预防中心分析了一项政府研究中收集的尿样，并在97%的尿样中发现了氧苯酮。之后的研究显示出氧苯酮和青春期男孩的睾酮浓度偏低、男性荷尔蒙变化、孕期缩短和婴儿出生体重不正常有潜在联系。

Of all of the sunscreen ingredients, oxybenzone is known to be the most common cause of contact allergies; a 10-year study found that 70% of people had a positive patch test when exposed.

在所有防晒霜成分中，氧苯酮是接触性过敏的最常见诱因。长达十年的研究发现，70%的人接触氧苯酮后在过敏源测试中结果呈阳性。

A Swiss study found oxybenzone or one of four other sunscreen chemicals in 85% of breast milk samples, sparking concern that newborns could be exposed.

瑞士的一项研究发现，85%的母乳样本中含有氧苯酮或其他四种防晒霜化合物的其中一种，这让人们担忧新生儿可能也吸收了这些物质。

And Hawaii, the Pacific nation of Palau and Key West recently banned sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate because they cause coral bleaching and are dangerous to marine ecosystems.

此外，夏威夷、太平洋岛国帕劳和基维斯特最近都禁止使用含有氧苯酮和桂皮酸盐的防晒霜，因为这些成分导致珊瑚白化，危及海洋生态系统。

coral bleaching: 珊瑚白化

So, should you stop using sunscreen? Absolutely not, experts say.

那么你是否应该停用防晒霜呢？专家说，绝对不行。

"The sun is the real enemy here," said Scott Faber, senior vice president for government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, or EWG, an advocacy group that publishes a yearly guide on sunscreens.

环境工作组的政府事务高级副总裁斯科特·法伯说：“烈日才是真正的敌人。”环境工作组是一个宣传组织，每年都会发布关于防晒霜的指南。

"It's not news that things that you put on your skin are absorbed into the body," Faber said. "This study is the FDA's way of showing sunscreen manufacturers they need to do the studies to see if chemical absorption poses health risks."

法伯说：“涂在皮肤上的东西会被人体吸收，这并不是新闻。这项研究是食品和药物管理局在告诉防晒霜制造商，他们需要通过研究来确定这些被人体吸收的化学物质会不会对健康造成危害。”

"It's important for consumers to know that for the purpose of this study, sunscreens were applied to 75% of the body, four times per day for four days -- which is twice the amount that would be applied in what the scientific community considers real-world conditions," said Alex Kowcz, chief scientist for The Personal Care Products Council.

个人护理产品委员会的首席科学家艾利克斯·考茨说：“消费者要知道，研究中防晒霜的使用量——涂抹四分之三的身体面积、每天四次、连涂四天——科学界认为这是现实世界中人们使用量的两倍。”

The council was concerned, she said, that the FDA's study might confuse consumers and discourage the use of sunscreen.

她说，委员会担心，食品和药物管理局的这项研究会让消费者感到困惑，从而让人们停止使用防晒霜。

When going outside, the American Academy of Dermatology recommends applying at least 1 ounce of sunscreen to all exposed skin every two hours or after swimming, including "back, neck, face, ears, tops of your feet and legs. If you have thinning hair, either apply sunscreen to your scalp or wear a wide-brimmed hat. To protect your lips, apply a lip balm with a SPF of at least 15," the academy says, adding that since UV rays are always present, sunscreen should be applied to exposed skin even on cloudy days and in the winter.

美国皮肤科学会建议，外出时每隔两小时或游泳后要在裸露的皮肤上涂抹至少1盎司防晒霜，包括“背部、脖颈、面部、耳朵、脚背和双腿。如果你头发稀疏，应在头皮上涂防晒霜或戴宽檐帽。为了保护嘴唇，应涂抹防晒指数至少15的润唇膏”。学会还补充说，紫外线无处不在，即使在阴天和冬天也应该在裸露的皮肤上涂防晒霜。

There are ways to protect yourself and your family other than sunscreen. Seek shade, especially between 10 am and 2 pm. when the sun is at its hottest, and whenever your shadow is shorter than you. Use protective clothing, such as long-sleeved shirts and pants and a hat with a wide brim, and don't forget the sunglasses.

除了防晒霜以外，还有其他方法可以保护你和你家人的皮肤。当太阳最毒的时候，尤其是在上午10点到下午2点之间，或影子比你短的时候，要到阴凉处躲避阳光。穿防护衣，比如长袖衬衫、长裤或宽檐帽，别忘了还有太阳镜。

"It's seeking shade, using clothes and when necessary using sunscreen," Andrews said, "but not using sunscreen to prolong your time in the sun."

安德鲁斯说：“寻找阴凉处、穿长袖，必要的时候用防晒霜，而不是用防晒霜来延长你在烈日下的时间。”

英文来源：CNN

翻译&编辑：丹妮

来源：中国日报网