Receipts contain "toxic" chemicals, report says
美国大型连锁店80%的收据含有“有毒”化学物质

The majority of receipts at some of the US’ biggest store and restaurant chains contain "toxic chemicals" such as bisphenol A, or BPA, according to new research. 
据哥伦比亚广播公司报道，一项最新研究显示，美国最大的商店和餐饮连锁店的收据大多都含有“有毒化学物质”，如双酚A （BPA）。

About 80% of receipts from 144 major chain stores in 22 US states and Washington, D.C. contained bisphenols per new findings from the Ecology Center, a nonprofit environmental health organization. 
非营利环境健康组织生态中心的分析显示，美国22个州和华盛顿特区的144家大型连锁店的收据中，约80%含有双酚类物质。

"Receipts are a common exposure route for hormone-disrupting bisphenols which readily absorb through the skin. Our studies show most retailers use bisphenol-coated receipt paper," Melissa Cooper Sargent, environmental health advocate at the Ecology Center, said in a statement. "Switching to non-toxic paper is an easy shift."
“收据是扰乱激素的双酚类物质的常见暴露途径，它们很容易通过皮肤吸收。“我们的研究表明，大多数零售商使用的都是双酚涂层收据纸，”生态中心的环境健康倡导者梅丽莎•库珀•萨金特在一份声明中说。“改用无毒纸张并不是什么难事。”

BPA is known to affect the reproductive systems of laboratory animals, but the impact on human health requires more research, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
据美国疾病控制与预防中心称，已知双酚A会影响实验动物的生殖系统，但对人类健康的影响还需要更多的研究。

The chemical has been found in the urine of almost all people who were tested by the CDC, with the agency noting this indicates "widespread exposure to BPA" among Americans. 
美国疾控中心在几乎所有接受检测的人的尿液中都发现了这种化学物质。该机构指出，这表明美国人“广泛接触双酚A”。

Some retailers have pledged to switch to receipt paper made without the chemicals, with Walgreens earlier this month announcing it plans to switch to phenol-free paper receipts — paper made without phenol-based chemicals like BPA or BPS — at its 9,000 locations by the end of 2023.
一些零售商已承诺改用不含化学物质的收据纸，沃尔格林本月早些时候宣布，计划到2023年底，在其9000个门店改用不含酚类化学物质（如BPA或BPS）的收据纸。

The study noted the share of retailers and other chains using receipts that contain BPA or BPS has declined since it last tested for the chemicals, decreasing from 93% in 2017 to 80% now. 
该研究指出，自上次对双酚A（BPA） 或双酚 S （BPS） 进行检测以来，使用含有双酚A或双酚S收据的零售商和其他连锁店的比例有所下降，从2017年的93%下降到现在的80%。

The Ecology Center recommends consumers decline printed receipts when possible, or wash their hands after taking a receipt. 
美国生态中心建议消费者尽可能拒绝打印收据，或者在拿收据后洗手。

It also said shoppers can fold the receipt with the printed side in, since the backside of the paper typically isn't coated with the chemicals. It also warned babies and children not to touch receipts. 
该公司还表示，购物者可以将打印好的收据折叠起来，因为纸张的背面通常不会涂上化学物质。

Workers should wear disposable gloves while handling receipts, and wash and dry their hands before eating or changing receipt rolls, the group recommended. 
它还建议婴儿和儿童不要碰收据。工作人员在处理收据时应戴上一次性手套，并在进食或更换收据纸卷之前洗手并擦干双手。

> Japan's population projected to shrink
日本研究所预测：2070年日本总人口将减少30%

Japan's population is expected to fall to 87 million by 2070, shrinking 30 percent from 2020, a government estimate showed Wednesday, highlighting the country's need to overhaul its social security systems and restructure its urban communities.
据《今日日本》报（Japan Today）报道，日本政府上月26日公布的一项估计显示，到2070年，日本人口预计将降至8700万，比2020年减少30%，这凸显日本需要全面改革其社会保障体系并重组其城市社区。

Foreign residents, including students and workers residing in Japan for more than three months, are set to comprise 10.8 percent of the population at 9.39 million in 2070, expanding from 2.2 percent in 2020.
外国居民，包括在日本居住三个月以上的留学生和外籍工人，将从2020年的2.2%增加到2070年的939万人，占总人口的10.8%。

The National Institute of Population and Security Research said those aged 65 or above in Japan are projected to hit 33.67 million in 2070 after peaking at 39.53 million in 2043. 
日本国立社会保障和人口问题研究所表示，日本65岁以上人口将在2043年达到3953万人的峰值，到2070年将达到3367万人。

In 2070, they will comprise 38.7 percent of the population, resulting in ballooning social security costs.
届时，他们将占人口的38.7%，使得社会保障成本激增。

The health ministry's research body provides 50-year demographic forecasts approximately every five years based on public data such as censuses. 
该日本厚生劳动省下属研究机构根据人口普查等公共数据大约每5年提供一次50年的人口预测。

The government will use the latest data to calculate the country's future pension payouts.
日本政府将使用最新的数据来计算该国未来的养老金支出。

The population, numbering 126.15 million as of 2020, is expected to fall under the 100 million threshold in 2056, it said. 
该报告称，截至2020年，日本人口数量为1.2615亿，预计将在2056年跌破1亿。

The projected fertility rate, or the expected number of children born per woman during child-bearing years, was at 1.36 for 2070, slightly up from 1.33 in 2020 but remaining well below the 2.07 level required to maintain the population.
2070年的预计生育率，即每名妇女在其育龄期生育的预期子女数，为1.36，略高于2020年的1.33，但仍远低于维持人口数量的门槛2.07。

The number of births, which slipped below 800,000 in 2022, is likely to decline further to under 700,000 in 2043 and below 500,000 in 2070, the institute said.
该研究所表示，出生人口在2022年下降到80万以下，在2043年可能进一步下降到70万以下，在2070年下降到50万以下。

People aged 15 to 64, the working-age population that supports the country's social security systems by paying premiums, are forecast to decline sharply to 45.35 million in 2070 from 75.09 million in 2020. 
15至64岁的人，即通过缴纳保险费支持日本的社会保障体系的工作年龄人口，预计将从2020年的7509万大幅下降到2070年的4535万。

Those aged 14 and under are estimated to decrease to 7.97 million in 2070 from 15.03 million in 2020.
14岁及以下的人口估计将从2020年的1503万减少到2070年的797万。

The population's average age is projected to be 47.6 in 2020, rising to 54.0 in 2070. 
日本人口的平均年龄预计在2020年为47.6岁，到2070年上升到54岁。

Men's average life expectancy is expected to reach 85.89 in 2070 from 81.58 in 2020, while that of women is likely to climb to 91.94 from 87.72.
男性的平均预期寿命将从2020年的81.58岁达到2070年的85.89岁，而女性的平均预期寿命可能从87.72岁升至91.94岁。

However, according to Masashi Kawai, director of a research center on population decline prevention, the latest data "overstates the rise in the foreign population and does not take into account pandemic-caused falls in the younger generation's desire to marry or have children."
然而，根据日本人口下降预防研究中心主任Masashi Kawai的说法，最新的数据“夸大了外国人口的增长，没有考虑到疫情导致的年轻一代结婚或生孩子意愿的下降。”