離開
進入《中英對照讀新聞》Swiss flushing away millions in gold and silver every year－瑞士每年沖走數百萬黃金與白銀
瑞士製錶業相當發達。（彭博）
◎周虹汶
While London’s sewers can get clogged with fatbergs made up of grease and diapers, it seems Switzerland’s waste system is flecked with silver and gold.
當倫敦下水道被油脂和布棉構成的油塊堵塞之時，瑞士的廢棄物系統似乎點綴著金銀斑點。
Researchers last year detected 3 tonnes of silver and 43 kg of gold in effluent and sludge from waste water treatment plants - amounting to around 3 million Swiss francs.
研究者去年在廢水處理廠流出的水以及污泥中，探測到3公噸白銀以及43公斤黃金—約計300萬瑞士法郎。
But before people start hunting in their drains for jewelry, the government study said the tiny particles were likely to be mostly from the watchmaking, pharmaceuticals and chemical industries, which use the metals in their products and processes.
但民眾開始在他們的排水溝尋獵珠寶以前，政府研究說，這些微粒可能大多來自產品和製程使用這些金屬的製錶業、製藥業及化學工業。
"You hear stories about an angry man or woman throwing jewelry down the toilet, but we didn’t find any rings, unfortunately," report author Bas Vriens said on Thursday.
報告作者巴斯．維利恩斯週四說，「你們聽過生氣男女把珠寶丟進馬桶的故事，但不幸地，我們沒找到任何戒指。」
"The levels of gold or silver were very small, in the micrograms, or even nanograms, but when you add them up it’s pretty substantial."
「黃金或白銀的含量很小，以微克或甚至奈克計，但當你把它們慢慢加總起來，它是相當可觀的。」
Researchers are now studying if it is worthwhile to extract the metals, but so far it has not found to be cost effective.
研究者現正研究，是否值得提煉這些金屬，但至今未發現符合成本效益。
"It wouldn’t make sense for people to boil their tap water to recover gold or silver because it has already been filtered out before it re-enters the drinking water supply," Vriens said. （Reuters）
維利恩斯說：「民眾為回收黃金或白銀，而把自來水拿去煮沸，是說不通的，因為它早在進入飲用水供給系統前就已被濾除。」（路透）
《新聞辭典》
clog：名詞，指木底鞋、障礙；動詞，指阻礙、堵塞。例句：Don’t clog up your mind with painful memories.（別讓痛苦回憶壅塞你的心靈。）
fleck：名詞，指斑點、斑紋、微粒；動詞，使斑駁。例句：There are a few flecks of paint on the window.（窗戶上染到幾點油漆。）
effluent：形容詞，指流出的、放出的。名詞：指水流、支流、廢水。
