Do you know more than 50 percent of microplastic pollution in our oceans comes from color paints? Almost every object that people throw into the ocean, whether it be a broken toy, a small bottle cap, or a shoe, has some sort of color coating. While you might try to collect all the plastic objects that are thrown into the oceans, there is no way to gather the microplastics that have already mixed into the water.

你知道我们海洋中超过50%的微塑料污染来自彩色涂料吗?人们扔进海洋的几乎每个物品，无论是破玩具，小瓶盖还是鞋子，都有某种形式的彩色涂层。虽然我们可能会试图收集所有扔进海洋的塑料物品，但无法收集已混入水中的微塑料。

Particles derived from paint aren’t only a problem in the ocean; they also mix into the air that you breathe. In 2010, scientists studied the effect of chemicals that are used in commercial wall paint on children’s health. They found that kids who sleep in rooms with walls coated with paint having high levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are more likely to develop medical conditions like eczema and asthma.

来自涂料的微粒不仅是海洋中的问题，它们也会混入你呼吸的空气中。2010年，科学家研究了商业墙面涂料中使用的化学物质对儿童健康的影响。他们发现，在涂有高挥发性有机化合物(VOCs)的油漆涂层的房间内睡觉的儿童，更有可能患有湿疹和哮喘等疾病。

So does that mean commercial paint materials will continue to degrade our environment and our health? Well, there is a new ray of hope. Researchers from the University of Central Florida (UCF) recently published a study that describes “plasmonic paint,” a lightweight, eco-friendly material that has the potential to replace most colored coatings. They claim that their plasmonic paint is also the lightest paint in the world because it avoids the use of pigments and all the materials needed to hold the pigments in place.

那么，这是否意味着商业涂料材料将继续破坏我们的环境和健康?好消息来了。来自中佛罗里达大学(UCF)的研究人员最近发表了一项研究，描述了“等离子体油漆”，这是一种轻质，环保的材料，有可能取代大多数彩色涂层。他们声称，他们的等离子体漆也是世界上最轻的漆，因为它避免了使用颜料和将颜料固定在适当位置所需的所有材料。

Pablo Cencillo Abad, the first author of the study and a researcher at UCF’s NanoScience Technology Center, told Ars Technica, “Our ultralight paint is the lightest in the world, and its use instead of conventional pigments can help reduce the overall weight of objects, which is critically beneficial for the aerospace industry.”

该研究的第一作者，UCF纳米科学技术中心的研究员帕布罗·森西洛·阿巴德表示，“我们的超轻涂料是世界上最轻的，使用它代替传统颜料可以帮助减少物体的整体重量，对航空航天工业非常有利。”

He added, “As an example of a ready application, consider the case of a large object like a Boeing 747 jumbo jet. Conventional paint requires a large amount of paint, usually over 1,000 lb (454 kg), to coat such an object. However, only about 3 lb (1.4 kg) of our plasmonic paint would be needed, which represents an astonishing 400-fold reduction in weight.”

他补充说：“以波音747大型客机为例，涂抹这样一个物体，用传统油漆，通常会超过1,000磅(454公斤)。然而，等离子体油漆只需要大约3磅(1.4千克)，这意味着重量减少了惊人的400倍。”