Closing coal factories leads to healthier babies: Areas that saw shutdowns have had a drop in preterm births and the rate of infant diseases, study reveals
研究显示，关闭煤厂会让婴儿更健康：关闭煤厂的地区，早产率和婴儿患病率都有所下降
Shutting down coal and oil-fired power stations leads to healthier babies, according to new research.
根据新的研究显示，关闭煤厂和燃油发电站会让婴儿更健康。
Closing the polluting power plants lowers the rate of premature births in neighboring communities as well as improving fertility.
关闭污染发电厂降低了邻近社区的早产率，也提高了生育率。
Researchers compared preterm births and fertility before and after eight power stations in California closed between 2001 and 2011, including San Francisco's Hunters Point plant in 2006.
研究人员比较了2001年至2011年期间加州8个发电站关闭前后的早产和生育能力，关闭的发电站包括2006年旧金山的猎人点电厂。
Overall, the percentage of preterm births - babies born before 37 weeks of gestation - dropped from seven percent during a year-long period before plant closure to 5.1 percent for the year after shutdown.
总的来说，早产婴儿（在怀孕37周之前出生的婴儿）的百分比在一年内从7%下降到5.1%。
The 20 to 25 percent drop in premature birthrates was larger than expected, but consistent with other studies linking birth problems to air pollution around power plants, according to the findings published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
根据发表在《美国流行病学杂志》上的研究，早产率下降20% - 25%，比预期的要大，但与其他的研究是一致的，这些研究都把出生问题与发电厂周围的空气污染联系起来。
Another paper, published in the journal Environmental Health, used similar data and found that fertility - the number of live births per 1,000 women - increased around coal and oil power plants after closure.
发表在《环境健康》杂志上的另一篇文章使用了类似的数据并发现，在煤油发电厂关闭后，附近的妇女们的生育能力——每1000名妇女的活产数量——增加了。
Lead author of the first study, postdoctoral fellow Dr Joan Casey, of University of California, Berkeley, said: 'We were excited to do a good news story in environmental health.
第一项研究的主要作者、加州大学伯克利分校的博士后研究员Joan Casey博士说:“我们很高兴能在环境健康方面做一个好的新闻报道。
'Most people look at air pollution and adverse health outcomes, but this is the flip side.
大多数人关注空气污染和其对健康的不良影响，但我们的研究相反。
'We said, let's look at what happens when we have this external shock that removes air pollution from a community and see if we can see any improvements in health.'
我们旨在研究当我们从外部消除空气污染时，健康是否能得到改善。”
She said the findings could help policy makers more strategically plan the decommissioning of power plants as they build more renewable sources of energy, in order to have the biggest health impact.
她说，这些发现可以帮助决策者在建造更多的可再生能源时，更有策略地规划发电厂的退役，以达到对健康最大的影响。
Co-author Professor Rachel Morello-Frosch, also of University of California, Berkeley, said: 'We believe that these papers have important implications for understanding the potential short-term community health benefits of climate and energy policy shifts and provide some very good news on that front.
合著者、加州大学伯克利分校的Rachel Morello-Frosch教授说:“我们认为这些文章有助于理解气候和能源政策转变对潜在的短期内改善社区健康的作用，并提供一些关于这方面非常好的消息。”
'These studies indicate short-term beneficial impacts on preterm birth rates overall and particularly for women of color.'
这些研究表明，总体上，对早产的有益影响是短期内的，对有色人种女性来说尤其如此。”
The researchers compared preterm birth rates in the first year following the closure date of each power station with the rate during the year starting two years before the plant's retirement, so as to eliminate seasonal effects on preterm births.
研究人员比较了每一个发电厂关闭前两年和关闭后第一年的早产率，以消除对早产率的季节性影响。
Dividing the surrounding region into three concentric rings three miles wide, Dr Casey delved into state birth records to determine the rate of preterm births in each ring.
将周围区域划分为3英里宽的3个同心环，Casey博士研究了各州的出生记录，以确定每个同心环区域内的早产率。
Those living in the closest ring, within three miles of the plant, saw the largest improvement: a drop from seven to 5.1 percent.
那些生活在距离核电站3英里以内的距离最近的环区内的人，有最大的改善：从7%下降到5.1%。
But people living in the next nearest zone showed less improvement.
但是生活在下一个最近地区的人们的改善却没有那么大。
The researchers also considered the effects of winds on preterm birth rates, and though downwind areas seemed to exhibit greater improvements, the differences were not statistically significant.
研究人员还考虑了风对早产率的影响，虽然下风区域的改善似乎更大，但并没有显著差异。
As a control, they replicated their analysis around eight power stations that had not closed, and found no before-versus-after difference, which supported the results of their main analysis.
作为对照，他们在8个没有关闭发电站的周围进行了同样的分析，没有发现前后的差异，这与他们主要分析的结果一致。
There did not appear to be any effect on births before 32 weeks, which Dr Casey said may reflect the fact that very early births are a result of problems, genetic or environmental, more serious than air pollution.
Casey博士说，似乎没有对32周之前的早产率产生任何影响，这可能反映了一个事实，即早产是由基因或比空气污染更严重的环境问题造成的。
She added: 'It would be good to look at this relationship in other states and see if we can apply a similar rationale to retirement of power plants in other places.'
她补充说:“最好在其他州也进行同样的研究，看看我们是否能用类似的理由促使其他地方的发电厂关闭。”
Dr Pauline Mendola, of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said of the findings: 'Perhaps it's time for the health of our children to be the impetus behind reducing the common sources of ambient air pollution.
尤尼斯·肯尼迪·施莱弗国家儿童健康和人类发展研究所的Pauline Mendola博士说:“也许是时候为了我们孩子的健康，从各方面着手减少空气污染了。
'Their lives depend on it.'
这决定了他们的生活质量。”
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