Continuous long‐term monitoring of UV radiation in professional mountain guides reveals extremely high exposure

Abstract

Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is estimated to be one of the most important risk factors for nonmelanoma and melanoma skin cancers. High occupational UV exposure is assumed to be associated with skin cancer. Mountain guides receive considerable UV doses due to altitude-related increase of UVR and reflection from snow-and ice-covered surfaces. The aim of our study was to assess the annual occupational UV exposure of mountain guides. Spore film test chambers containing spores of Bacillus subtilis (VioSpor) were used as UV dosimeters with a spectral sensitivity profile similar to erythema-weighted data calculated from spectroradiometric measurements. Nine mountain guide instructors carried dosimeters on the sides of their heads on a total of 1,406 working days during one year (July 1999 -June 2000). Dosimeters were changed monthly. Measurements of 92 months could be evaluated (4 -12 months/mountain guide). The mean individual monthly UV exposure was 107 standard erythema doses (SED) (median 71 SED; range 10 -505 SED). The mean annual cumulative UV exposure was 1,097 SED (median 1,273 SED; range 312-1,770 SED) per mountain guide. The mean UV dose per day (4 -10 hr) was 6.6 SED (median 5.7 SED; range 0.6 -24.2 SED). This is the second study of continuous annual UV dosimetry in a cohort of outdoor workers. Our study showed that it is not sufficient to interpolate annual UV exposure from a few days' measurements. Only long-term dosimetry can give reliable yearly information of UVR load. Median daily UV exposure exceeded limits for UV radiation (e.g., ACGIH effective dose 30 J/m 2 per 8 hr period corresponding to 1.08 SED/day) 6-fold; maximal exposure exceeded these limits 23-fold. These extremely high exposure values are suggestive for an increased risk of skin cancer and thorough epidemiologic studies in the collectives of professional and recreational mountaineering are required. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Key words: UV radiation; mountain guide; occupational disease; UV dosimetryDuring the last decades an epidemic increase in skin cancer has been observed in the Caucasian populations of industrial countries. A rise in nonmelanoma skin cancer has been noted particularly in Australia, the United States and Central as well as Northern Europe. 1-3 UV exposure is considered to be the most important risk factor for development of nonmelanoma skin cancer and melanoma. 4,5 High occupational UV exposure is assumed to be associated with skin cancer. 4,6 -9 Numerous epidemiologic studies explored the relationship between skin cancer development and UV exposure, which were assessed by questionnaires in a retrospective manner. 5 However, the association between estimated exposure and dosimeter readings has been shown to be poor. 10 Sensitivity of the human skin to UVR is dependent on the wavelength of UV radiation from 250 -400 nm. 11,12 Biologically weighted dosimeters integrate the UVR effect over the whole spectrum and simulate the relative sensitivity curve critical for human skin for each individual wavelength within this range...

Solar UV exposure in construction workers in Valencia, Spain

“…These dosimeters have been proved effective for personal UV measurements in outdoor occupations such as building workers (Milon et al, 2007), lifesaving (Moehrle and Garbe, 2000;O'Riordan et al, 2008;Serrano et al 2009), or mountain guides (Moehrle et al, 2003;Moehrle and Garbe, 2000). Spore-film production (DNA repair-deficient strain of Bacillus subtilis) and the development of the films are described in Furusawa et al, 1998 andMunakata et al, 2000.…”

“…Due to its geographical situation, for most of the year the Valencia Region (Spain) receives large doses of UVR. Outdoor workers receive regular and significant solar UVR in their course of their activities (Gies and Wright, 2003;Gies et al, 2009;Glanz et al, 2007;Hammond et al, 2009;Milon et al, 2007;Moehrle et al, 2003;Schmalwieser et al, 2010;Serrano et al, 2009;Siani et al, 2011;Siani et al, 2008;Thieden et al 2005) especially when solar radiation is intense.…”

Effective exposure to solar UV in building workers: influence of local and individual factors

“…Surprisingly, the effect of the strong increase in UV radiation with altitude (Blumthaler et al, 1994), which can be experienced within a short travel distance, has seldom been studied on humans. Outdoor activities in mountainous areas entail, for workers and recreationists alike, a particularly increased risk of overexposure to UV radiation (Moehrle et al, 2003).…”

Avaliação e Análise da Série Temporal de Radiação UV Coletadas em Diferentes Cidades Peruanas

“…O estudo da RUV é de fundamental importância, pois a exposição do ser humano às RUV-A e RUV-B é o principal fator desencadeador de queimaduras, cânceres de pele não-melanoma, doenças nos olhos, como a catarata e o pterígio, e da supressão do sistema imunológico (Walsh, 2009); por outro lado, também é responsável pela síntese de vitamina D, hormônio primordial para a saúde humana (Peters et al, 2009).…”

“…Para caracterizar os efeitos cumulativos da exposição solar, utiliza-se o conceito de dose eritematosa (Jm -2 ), que representa a integração da irradiância eritêmica em um intervalo de tempo (Corrêa, 2003;Silva, 2013). A recomendação internacional propõe que a dose diária de 108 Jm -2 seja suficiente para satisfazer as necessidades diárias de vitamina D, sem causar danos relativos aos efeitos nocivos da RUV (Moehrle et al, 2003).…”