牛仔褲的環(huán)保染料研究英語(yǔ)美文
They can be tight, flared, ripped at the knee. Jeans come in all styles and colours these days, but one hue will always be synonymous with the world’s favourite garment: indigo blue.
如今，牛仔褲有各種款式和顏色，款式有緊身的、喇叭式的、露膝蓋的。但是有一種顏色一直是世界上最受歡迎的服裝的代名詞：靛藍(lán)色。
To satisfy the world’s seemingly insatiable demand for blue denim, more than 45,000 tonnes of indigo dye are produced every year, with much of the waste making its way into rivers and streams, conservationists say.
環(huán)保主義者稱(chēng)，為滿足世界對(duì)藍(lán)色牛仔布無(wú)盡的需求,每年要生產(chǎn)45000多噸靛藍(lán)染料，同時(shí)造成大量的廢物流入河流和小溪。
On Monday, scientists announced they had developed a greener method to produce the coveted tint -- using lab-grown bacteria.
周一, 科學(xué)家們宣布他們已經(jīng)開(kāi)發(fā)出一種更加綠色環(huán)保的方法，生產(chǎn)人們一直渴望的色調(diào)——利用實(shí)驗(yàn)室培育的細(xì)菌。
While not yet commercially viable, the technique holds promise for a "much-needed to the historic, but unsustainable, indigo dyeing process," researchers wrote in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.
研究人員在《自然化學(xué)生物學(xué)》雜志上撰文稱(chēng)，這項(xiàng)技術(shù)雖然還沒(méi)有商業(yè)可行性, 但是有望改良“歷史上亟需更新的但不能長(zhǎng)期保持色澤的靛藍(lán)染色工藝�！�
"Demand for the dye is higher than ever before, making its ecological consequences unsustainable," they warned.
他們警告說(shuō)：“人們對(duì)染料的.需求比以往任何時(shí)候都要大，這樣會(huì)造成生態(tài)的不可持續(xù)�！�
Originally extracted from plants, indigo is one of the oldest dyes, with evidence of its use in textile colouring going back some 6,000 years.
靛藍(lán)染料最初是從植物中提取的, 是最古老的染料之一。有證據(jù)表明靛藍(lán)染料用于紡織品著色的歷史可以追溯到大約6000年前。
It is prized for being vibrant and long-lasting, and was an important cash crop until humans started making synthetic indigo in the early 1900s.
靛藍(lán)染料的價(jià)值在于它的鮮艷色澤和持久性，它是一種重要的經(jīng)濟(jì)作物，到了20世紀(jì)早期人類(lèi)開(kāi)始生產(chǎn)人造靛藍(lán)染料。
Indigo crystals cling easily to the cotton fibres used in jeans and are resistant to laundry detergents, yet flake off slightly with wear-and-tear to yield the sought-after worn-in look.
靛藍(lán)水晶容易附著在用于制作牛仔褲的棉纖維上，而且經(jīng)得住洗衣液的洗滌，但卻會(huì)隨著磨損而脫落，從而產(chǎn)生人們追求的磨損效果。
Some four billion denim garments are produced every year, the vast majority indigo-tinted, said the study authors, and warned of "a serious sustainability problem".
研究報(bào)告的作者們說(shuō)，每年生產(chǎn)的牛仔服裝大約有40億件，絕大多數(shù)都是靛藍(lán)色的。他們還警告說(shuō)“這是一個(gè)嚴(yán)重的持續(xù)性問(wèn)題”。
The first danger: producing indigo dye requires the use of toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
第一個(gè)危險(xiǎn): 生產(chǎn)靛藍(lán)染料需要使用甲醛和氰化氫等有毒的化學(xué)物質(zhì)。
Furthermore, synthesised indigo is insoluble in water, meaning chemicals are needed to make it suitable for dyeing.
另外，合成靛藍(lán)不溶于水，這就意味著需要化學(xué)物質(zhì)使其適合染色。
Not currently feasible
目前不可行
One such chemical is sodium dithionite, which decomposes into sulfate and sulfite which can corrode equipment and pipes in dye mills and wastewater treatment plants.
這樣的一種化學(xué)物質(zhì)是連二亞硫酸鈉, 可以分解成硫酸鹽和亞硫酸鹽，會(huì)腐蝕染料廠和污水處理廠的設(shè)備和管道。
"Many dye mills avoid the additional cost of wastewater treatment by dumping the spent dye materials into rivers, where they have negative ecological impacts," said the research team.
研究小組說(shuō)：“許多染料廠通過(guò)將廢染料傾倒到河水里避免污水處理的額外費(fèi)用，從而對(duì)河水產(chǎn)生不良的生態(tài)影響。”
The new method mimics the workings of the Japanese plant Persicaria tinctoria.
這種新的方法就是模仿日本蓼藍(lán)植物的工作原理。
Instead of a plant, "we engineered a common lab strain of Escherichia coli, a bacteria found in our gut, to be a chemical factory for the production of indigo dye," study co-author John Dueber of the University of California’s bioengineering department told AFP.
新方法并不是一種植物。加利福尼亞大學(xué)生物工程系的合著者約翰·杜伯告訴法新社說(shuō)：“我們?cè)O(shè)計(jì)了一種常見(jiàn)的大腸桿菌實(shí)驗(yàn)室菌株，這是一種在我們腸道里發(fā)現(xiàn)的細(xì)菌, 可以成為一個(gè)化學(xué)工廠，用于生產(chǎn)靛藍(lán)染料�！�
Like the plant, the bacteria produces a compound called indoxyl, which is insoluble and cannot be used as a dye. By adding a sugar molecule, the indoxyl is turned into indican -- a precursor of indigo.
像植物一樣, 細(xì)菌產(chǎn)生的化合物稱(chēng)為吲哚酚，它不溶于水，不能用作染料。加入糖分子, 吲哚酚就會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)化成糖苷——靛藍(lán)前驅(qū)體。
Indican can be stored and transformed into indigo direcly on the cloth when dyeing, by adding an enzyme to the mix.
糖苷可以存儲(chǔ)，染色時(shí)，可以在混合物中加入一種酶，這樣糖苷就可以直接在布料上轉(zhuǎn)化成靛藍(lán)色。
The lab is working to make the process commercially feasible, Dueber said.
杜伯稱(chēng)，實(shí)驗(yàn)室正在努力使這一過(guò)程實(shí)現(xiàn)商業(yè)化。
For now, producing five grammes of indigo to colour one pair of jeans would require "several litres of bacteria," he said, and would be more expensive.
現(xiàn)在, 生產(chǎn)五克靛藍(lán)色染料來(lái)染一條牛仔褲，就需要“數(shù)升的細(xì)菌”，他說(shuō), 牛仔褲以后會(huì)更貴。
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