《中英對照讀新聞》Power cables linked to cancer?高壓電纜與癌症有關？

◎ 陳成良

Children who live near overhead power lines may be at greater risk of early leukaemia, a study published in the British Medical Journal said.

住在高壓電線附近的兒童，罹患早期白血症（血癌）的風險可能比較高，一項刊載在英國醫學期刊的報告指出。

British researchers found that children who had lived within 200 metres of high voltage cables at birth faced a 69-percent higher risk of childhood leukaemia.

英國研究人員發現，自出生以來居住在距高壓電線二百公尺以內的兒童，罹患兒童白血症的機率高出六十九％。

But they admitted there was no known biological mechanism to explain this, and that some of the association may have been due to chance.

但他們承認，目前沒有已知的生物機制能解釋這個現象，且這種關連性部份原因可能是巧合。

The team looked through the records of more than 29,000 childen in England and Wales who had had cancer, 9,700 of them leukaemia, and compared this with the location of their homes in relation to power lines.

該研究小組仔細研究二萬九千名英格蘭與威爾斯地區罹患癌症的兒童病例，其中包括九千七百名患有白血症的病童，然後再比對他們住家地點與高壓電線的關係。

Compared with those who lived 600 metres from power lines, children who lived within 200 metres faced an increased risk of 69 percent that they would develop leukaemia. Those born between 200 metres and 600 metres faced an increase of 23 percent.

相較於那些住在距高壓電線六百公尺的兒童，住在距高壓電線兩百公尺內的兒童罹患白血病的機率增加六十九％。即使住家距高壓電線在二百到六百公尺之間，罹病機率也增加二十三％。

The study stressed that there remained a lot of uncertainty and added that even if the link were confirmed, power lines could be blamed only for about one percent of all cases of childhood leukaemia in England and Wales.

該研究強調仍有許多不確定因素，並指出即使這種關連性獲得證實，英格蘭與威爾斯地區所有兒童白血症病例也只有約一％可以歸咎於高壓電線。

新聞辭典

leukaemia：醫學名詞，白血症，血癌。此字美式拼法為leukemia。

due to：片語，由於、起因於。例句：The accident was due to careless driving. （這起車禍起因於駕駛疏忽。）

look through：片語，仔細研讀（功課等）；溫習；檢查。例句：Look through your notes before examination.（考試前溫習你的筆記。）

compare：動詞，比較， 通常後接with，但如後接to，則為「比喻為、比擬」。例句: Nothing can compare to you. （沒人比得上你。）