《自然》杂志发表美国研究：农药是如何杀死蜜蜂的

（作者：大卫·舒伯特；时间：2015年6月15日；翻译：jrry86；原文连接：http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/15/opinions/schubert-bees-herbicides/）

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但是蜜蜂正以惊人的速度在死亡。即便是白宫也承认这个可怕的现状（https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/Pollinator%20Health%20Strategy%202015.pdf），并在最近发布了一个专门报告。

While the report acknowledges that pesticides are involved in the demise of bees, it could have discussed more how for the first time in the history of agriculture the same chemicals are inside not only the pollen that bees consume but the foods we eat.

这份报告承认蜜蜂的死亡与农药有关，但实际上它还可以进一步讨论一下，究竟是什么原因导致了在农业历史上第一次，化学试剂不仅出现在花粉中而且还出现在我们的食物中。

Recent data published in Science, Nature and other scientific journals show that bees are dying from some of the pesticides that are found in our food supply.

最近在《科学》、《自然》和其它科学杂志上发表的数据显示，导致蜜蜂死亡的农药也出现在我们的食物供给中。

One of these groups of chemical insecticides is the neonicotinoids that are similar in structure to nicotine and poison the nervous system. The exposure of bees and people to neonicotinoids has increased enormously since it was discovered that by coating seeds with them the plants systemically take up the insecticide and distribute it to all parts of the plant and kill insects that eat the plant. They are used on about 80% of commercial food crops in the United States, are found in pollen, honey and other foods, and are exceptionally resilient in the environment.

这些化学杀虫剂中的一类是新烟碱杀虫剂，在结构上与尼古丁类似，具有神经毒性。自从发现用新烟碱涂裹在种子外面、植物将会全面吸收杀虫剂并分布在植物各个部分、并杀死吃作物的害虫以来，蜜蜂和人类接触新烟碱的机会大大增加。在美国它们被用于80%的商业化食物作物上（http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/neonic-efficacy_digital_29226.pdf），在花粉、蜂蜜和其它食品中都能发现其踪迹，而且在环境中异常强劲的存在。

David Schubert 大卫·舒伯特

 

The other is glyphosate, the active ingredient in most herbicides. Glyphosate not only kills weeds, it also kills many of the beneficial kinds of bacteria that are found in the guts of bees, dogs and humans. These bacteria are an integral part of our body and play major roles in both physical and mental health. The World Health Organization has declared glyphosate a probable carcinogen. Because glyphosate is required for the production of most genetically modified, or GM, crops, its use has increased a lot since the introduction of these crops about 20 years ago.

另 一个就是草甘膦，大多数除草剂里的活性成分。草甘膦不仅杀死杂草，它还会杀死蜜蜂、狗和人类肠道里的各种益生菌。后者是我们身体的完整的一部分，对我们的 生理和精神健康起着重要作用。世卫组织已经宣布草甘膦很可能致癌。而草甘膦是大多数转基因作物生产过程中所需要的，自从20年前引入转基因作物以来，草甘 膦的用量增加了很多（http://www.enveurope.com/content/24/1/24）。 

Neonicotinoids are banned in Europe. It has been documented that the systemic treatment of some plants by seed coating is ineffective in preventing insect predation.

 新烟碱在欧洲是禁用的（http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/apr/29/bee-harming-pesticides-banned-europe）。文献记载，在种子外涂裹新烟碱杀虫剂的做法对防治害虫侵食是无效的（http://www2.epa.gov/pollinator-protection/benefits-neonicotinoid-seed-treatments-soybean-production）。 

Is our government doing its best to protect our health, as well as the busy pollinators?

那么我们的政府是否在尽其所能保护我们的健康和忙碌的授粉者呢？ 

Two recent books say that the responsible agencies -- the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency -- do not independently safety test pesticides or GM crops before their introduction.

最近出版的两本书告诉我们，职权部门---食药管理局（FDA）和环保署（EPA）---在引入农药和转基因作物前并没有对它们进行独立的安全性检测。

"Altered Genes, Twisted Truth," by Steve Druker, details how FDA administrators often disregarded the advice of their scientists and hardly questioned the fact that most GM crops require the use of herbicides in order to work properly. Herbicides used on GM crops are food additives, because they must be in the plant to be effective. It is the FDA's mandate to test additives that are found in food that are potentially unsafe, which should include things like glyphosate and neonicotinoids. However, as Druker documents, the FDA shrugs responsibility for GM food safety.

Steve Druker所著“改变的基因，扭曲的真相”（http://www.directtextbook.com/isbn/9780985616908） 详细地告诉了我们FDA是如何经常性地忽视其科学家的意见，并且对大多数转基因作物需要使用除草剂才能正常生长这一事实几乎从不过问。用于转基因作物的除 草剂属于食品中的添加剂，因为它们必须存在于植物中才能起作用。FDA有责任去检验食品中存在的添加剂是否有潜在危险（http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/FoodAdditivesIngredients/ucm228269.htm），这应当包括草甘膦和新烟碱这类东西。但是，正如Druker文中所述，FDA却对其所应担负的转基因食品安全的责任不以为然。 

The book about the EPA, "Poison Spring: The Secret History of Pollution and the EPA," by Evaggelos Vallianatos, carefully documents how the agency is beholden to large agricultural chemical companies. For example, although it is now well documented that bees are dying due to long-term exposures to pesticides, the EPA has only requested that producers do short-term toxicity studies. Therefore, unless the chemical kills the bee outright, its use will be allowed.

而Evaggelos Vallianatos所著关于环保署的大作“毒药的春天：污染秘史与环保署”（http://www.amazon.com/Poison-Spring-Secret-History-Pollution/dp/1608199142）则仔细地记载了环保署是如何接受大型化工农业公司恩惠的。例如，虽然现在文献已经很明确的记录了蜜蜂的死亡是由于长期接触农药造成的（http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25395518），环保署却只是要求厂商做短期毒性研究。因此，除非那些化学试剂直接杀死蜜蜂，否则它们都会被允许使用。

Since the science has become clear that pollen containing agricultural chemicals is contributing to the death of bees, what are these same chemicals in our food doing to us?

既然科学上已经很明了，含有农用化学试剂的花粉造成了蜜蜂的死亡，那么存在于食品中的同样的化学试剂会对人类产生什么影响呢？  

In the absence of proper safety tests, this is a difficult question to answer. But there is a striking correlation between the decline of the bee population, which was first widely noted in the late 1990s -- soon after the introduction of neonicotinoids and glyphosate resistant crops -- and an increase in the relative frequency of several human diseases, such as autism and gastrointestinal conditions, in the same time frame.

没有恰当的安全性试验，这是一个难以回答的问题。但是自上世纪90年代后期新烟碱和抗草甘膦转基因作物引入后没多久，首次出现了蜜蜂数量下降，而在同一时间框架内，好几种人类疾病（例如自闭症和消化道疾病）相对发病率上升（http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/01/17/new-study-finds-a-very-strong-correlation-between-gmos-and-two-dozen-diseases），这其中有着显著的相关性（https://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/animals/files/bees.pdf）。

Perhaps the dying bees are telling us something about the future of human health. Unless the system of chemical-based agriculture is changed, the chemical exposure of both bees and humans will continue to increase.

也许死去的蜜蜂对人类未来的健康状况作出了预警。除非改变化工农业体系，蜜蜂和人类接触化学试剂带来的风险会一直增加。 

Individuals can demand that their state governments phase out the use of the most dangerous agricultural chemicals. Creating a sustainable and safe food supply is essential for the health and future of both bees and humans.

每个人都可以要求他们的州政府逐步淘汰最危险的农用化学试剂的使用。创造一个可持续发展的安全的食品供应链，对蜜蜂和人类的健康以及未来，都是至关重要的。