電子煙會損害你的肺

Vaping may harm the lungs

電子煙會損害你的肺

You’ve seen them on television, in celebrity photos and in magazine ads — cool superstars vaping on electronic cigarettes. Their high-tech gadgets seem to be available everywhere, from shopping malls to the 24-hour convenience mart. Is it any wonder that teens are being tempted to try out the vaping craze?

他們出現在電視上，在名人照片中，甚至在雜誌廣告上。一些明星在電子煙裏吞雲吐霧，這種高科技工具似乎在哪都可以買到個，從購物中心到24小時便利服務店。但如果說現在很多青少年正被這種蒸汽煙引誘併爲之狂熱，那麼你被驚到了嗎？

Yet scientists are disturbed by the fascination teens have with this nicotine-dispensing alternative to smoking. And with good reason. Data from a growing number of studies indicate that electronic cigarettes are not harmless.青少年對於這種含尼古丁可供選擇的吸物尤爲入迷。科學家對此表示很擔憂，並且有充分的理由。越來越多的研究數據表明電子煙並不是無害的。

Chemicals in e-cigarettes can damage lung tissue, provoking inflammation. That damage can reduce the ability of the lungs to keep out germs and other harmful substances, new studies show.

電子煙中的化學成分會破壞肺組織，進而誘發炎。新研究表明這種破壞會降低肺阻止細菌及其他有害物質進入體內的能力。

Evidence of vaping’s growing appeal can be seen everywhere — from urban storefronts (as here) to kiosks in suburban shopping malls.

從城市的貿易商鋪到郊區購物中心的小報攤，電子煙逐漸增加的吸引力隨處可見，有據可循。

Yet teens seem largely unaware of — or unconcerned by — the emerging data on these risks. Their use of e-cigarettes has now surpassed that of conventional cigarettes. In the past year alone, e-cigarette use by U.S. middle-school and high-school teens has tripled. That’s the finding of a new government survey released last month.

但是青少年對這些逐漸浮出水面的危險數據並沒有意識，或者說他們不是很關心。他們現在使用的電子煙的數量已經超過了傳統煙。僅在過去的一年中，美國初中或高中青少年裏使用電子煙的數量就已翻了3倍。這是上個月一項政府新調查發現的數據。

Mitch Zeller directs the Center for Tobacco Products in Silver Spring, Md. It’s part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “I can say definitively,” Zeller says, “that nicotine is harmful to the developing teenage brain. And no teenager, no young person, should be using any tobacco or nicotine-containing products.” These include e-cigarettes, he adds.

Mitch Zeller對馬里蘭州銀泉市菸草產品中心進行指導，該中心是美國食品和藥品管理局的一部分。“我可以很肯定地說，尼古丁對青少年的腦部發育有很大危害”，他表示，“因此，無論是青少年還是未成年人都不應該再繼續適用任何含尼古丁產品，其中包括電子煙”，他補充道。