英語聽力材料：生活裏的藥品污水

關於毒**，是我們時長警惕注意的，總覺得自己不會沾惹就不會有事。但是，事實上，日常的生活中，那些被傾倒在水中的藥品，也在威脅着我們的生活。

Just as the police bang down the door, the bad guys flush the incriminating drugs down the toilet. Surely, a scenario we’ve all seen on TV and in the movies. But, you might be surprised to find out how many drugs innocently wind up in our lakes and rivers every day.

Dirty Water

Household drugs like painkillers, antibiotics and hormones enter the water system through many channels. For example, some animal feeds contain antibiotics and flood into rivers with run-off water. Antibiotics are regularly flushed or dumped down sinks and toilets. Since many sewage treatment plants don’t effectively remove drugs or hormones, these compounds enter our waterways and wind up in our tap water.

Antibiotic Resistance

Are flushed drugs a health concern? Once in a river, antibiotics might affect wildlife by killing off the normal microbes that are naturally found in the water and soil and that form the basis of the local ecosystem. Or, perhaps more dangerously, the microbes may learn to adapt and reproduce in the presence of antibiotics, developing antibiotic resistance.

At present, common household drugs are found in many lakes and rivers in relatively small concentrations, but we can do something to help. We can avoid throwing drugs down the drain and, instead, take them to a hospital, pharmacy or hazardous waste center for safe disposal.

我們在電視上或電影裏總會看到這樣的`場景，警察破門而入時，壞人正將罪證毒**倒入廁所沖走。但是，你可能會驚奇地發現每天將有多少藥品流入我們的河流湖泊裏。

污水

像去疼片，抗生素，激素等家庭用藥會以多種渠道進入水系統。比如，一些動物飼料中包含抗生素，會隨水流一起流入河中。通常，抗生素會被衝進或倒入水池和廁紙中。許多污水處理廠並不能有效的去除藥品或激素，這些化合物就進入我們的水管中，最終成為我們的自來水。

抗生素耐藥性

該不該擔心那些被沖走的藥品會影響我們的健康?藥品一旦進入河流，抗生素會殺死水中，土壤中正常的微生物， 而它們是形成當地生態系統的基礎，所以抗生素可能會影響野生動物。或者可能更具危險性，微生物也許會學着適應，並在有抗生素存在的情況下繁衍，衍生出抗藥性。

目前，家庭常用藥物在河流湖泊中的濃度還不高，但是我們可以改善這種情況。我們可以不往下水道里扔藥品，將藥品帶去醫院，藥房或者危險廢棄物中心進行安全處置。