Microplastics, tiny bits of plastic less than five millimeters in size, show up primarily in toothpaste and beauty products.
微塑料是一种小于五毫米的塑料颗粒，主要用在牙膏和美容产品上。
The problem is once they go down the drain, they end up everywhere in the water supply, but that has just changed in Italy.
问题是一旦流到下水道里，它们就会在任何供水系统中出现，但情况在意大利已经开始发生变化。
We passed a law to ban microplastics from cosmetics and cotton buds.
我们通过了一项法律，禁止化妆品和棉签中添加微塑料。
Beginning in 2019, it will be prohibited to use cotton buds that do not have biodegradable sticks
从2019年开始，禁止使用不可降解的棉签棒，
and regarding microplastics beginning in 2020, cosmetics containing microplastics will be prohibited.
从2020年开始，化妆品也将禁止含有微塑料。
Banning microplastics is not just about keeping the oceans clean, it's about keeping our food chain healthy.
禁止微塑料不仅仅是保证海洋清洁，更是保证食物链的健康。
Clearly a purifier able to capture these minuscule plastic little balls does not exist, they end up in the sea.
显然，一个能够过滤微型塑料球的净化器还不存在，它们最终会流入大海。
Once they get into the sea, they are easily mistaken as plankton by fish and so we eat fish with plastic.
一旦它们进入大海，它们很容易被鱼认成浮游生物而误食，而我们将会吃到含有塑料的鱼。

Cosmetics companies have been reducing microplastics and their products for years and say they will be gone entirely before the law goes into effect.
多年以来，化妆品公司一直在减少微型塑料及其产品，称将在法律实施之前完全停止对微塑料的使用。
We gave ourselves a goal by 2020, so the fact that 80 products which still contain those substances
我们在2020之前给自己定了一个目标，目前有80种商品含有微塑料，
were found in Italy in different shops is in line with our expectations.
遍布整个意大利商店，这与我们的期望值是相符合的。
They said the new law and above all, our own recommendations mean that if not before and the latest by 2020,
根据新法律以及最重要的，我们本公司的建议，我们要在2020年之前，最晚2020年年底，
all will be eliminated, but again we are very confident giving the available data that we will reach the goal much earlier.
所有的微塑料制品都将被淘汰，但根据现有的数据，我们将会提早完成目标，对此我们充满信心。
Scientists are worried these kinds of microplastics may be doing some serious unknown harm to all living things.
科学家们担心这种微塑料可能会对全部生物造成某些严重的未知危害。
What we know is that a group of substances, the phthalates represent a threat to our health.
我们知道一些物质，比如邻苯二甲酸盐能对我们的健康构成威胁。
They can be found in plastic materials and then by passing through the food chain.
它们可以在塑料材料中找到，然后进入食物链。
They can end up in the human body. Phthalates are what we define as endocrine disruptors.
它们最终可以进入人体，邻苯二甲酸盐被我们定义为内分泌干扰物。
Those substances can influence and disrupt hormone levels. In some cases, they are also capable of affecting the reproductive system.
这些物质可以影响和破坏激素水平，在某些情况下，它们也能影响生殖系统。
But getting rid of microplastics will not do much to stop the 8 million tonnes of plastics that end up in the oceans every year.
每年有800万吨塑料流向海洋，仅仅淘汰微塑料也是杯水车薪。
Kevin Enoch, VOA News.
美国之音新闻，凯文·恩尼克斯报道。