◎魏國金
Residents of the dolphin-hunting village depicted in Oscar documentary "The Cove" have dangerously high mercury levels, likely because of their fondness for dolphin and whale meat, a government lab said.
奧斯卡獲獎紀錄片「血色海灣」刻畫的捕殺 海豚村落的居民，可能因對鯨豚肉的偏愛，致使體內有危險的高含汞濃度，一個政府實驗室表示。
The levels of mercury detected in Taiji residents were above the national average, but follow-up tests have found no ill effects, according to the National Institute for Minamata Disease. The tests were done on hair samples from 1,137 volunteers of the town’s roughly 3,500 residents.
國立水■（保去木為 天）症綜合研究中心指出，在太地町居民體內檢查出的含汞濃度超過國家平均標準，但後續的檢測發現沒有不良影響。該檢測是取得該市共約3500名居民中的 1137位志願者毛髮樣本而進行完成。
"The results suggest there is a connection between hair mercury levels and eating cetaceans," Director Koji Okamoto said.
「該結果顯示毛髮含汞濃度與攝食鯨豚動物有關，」該單位主任岡本浩二說。
Mercury accumulates up the food chain, so large predators such as dolphins, tuna and swordfish tend to have the highest levels. The latest studies published by the Japanese government show that meat from bottlenose dolphins had about 1,000 times the mercury content of that from sardines.
汞隨食物鏈累積，所以諸如海豚、鮪魚與箭魚等大型掠食生物傾向有最高濃度的汞含量，日本政府最新公布的研究顯示，瓶鼻海 豚肉的汞含量約千倍於沙丁魚肉。
Fetuses and small children are particularly vulnerable to mercury, which affects the development of the nervous system — The Health Ministry recommends that pregnant women eat at most 80 grams of bottlenose dolphin per two months.
胎兒與小孩特別容易受到汞的傷害，汞會影 響神經系統的發展─衛生部建議孕婦每兩個月攝食的瓶鼻海豚肉不要超過80公克。
Environmentalists have long protested Taiji’s dolphin slaughter and Japan’s whaling activities, and have adopted the mercury issue as part of their cause.
環保人士長久來抗議太地 町的海豚屠殺與日本的捕鯨活動，並把汞議題納為其抗議的部分理據。
新聞辭典
follow- up︰形容詞，後續的，名詞指後續行動、後續報導。例句︰It was a follow-up on something I had written before.（這是我寫過題材的續篇。）
ill effects︰不良後果、惡果。例句︰Three months after the accident she could walk without any ill effects.（那場意外發生後3個月，她又能步行而無任何不適之感。）
at （the） most︰片語，至多、不超過。例句︰There is only at most room for one person.（最多只有可容納一人的空間。）
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