Variations and trends of biologically effective doses of solar ultraviolet radiation in Asia, Europe and South America from 1999 to 2007

Abstract

Biological monitoring of solar UV radiation using spore dosimeters has been undertaken since the year 1999 at more than 20 sites in Asia, Europe and South America. The monthly-cumulative data to the end of the year 2004 have been presented before. In this paper, successive data to the end of the year 2007 are compiled and the trends and correlation analyses with yearly and monthly average amounts of columnar ozone are presented. Mean yearly doses at 10 northern and 6 southern hemisphere sites exhibited exponential latitudinal gradients with similar slopes indicating a doubling of the dose with the decline of about 14 degrees. Among 12 sites where continual data for more than 6 years were available, increasing trends in yearly UV doses were observed at 11 sites. At one European (Brussels), two tropical Asian (Padang and Denpasar), and two South American (São Martinho and Punta Arenas) sites, decreasing trends of ozone amounts were noted, whereas at the remaining 6 sites (five sites in Japan and Thessaloniki), increasing trends of the UV doses were observed without notable changes, or with an increase at one site (Kiyotake), of the average ozone amounts. At one site (Taipei), the UV doses and the ozone amounts stayed constant. In the monsoon areas, climatic variations and changes, particularly in the extent of cloudiness and frequency of rainfall in summer months, might have been largely responsible for the trends of the UV doses. However, even at these sites, the decreases in the ozone amounts in summer months were frequently observed and might have contributed to the increasing trends of the UV doses. Since each region and locality is unique in climatic and atmospheric conditions, it is not easy to generalize the global trends. However, at many sites involved in this monitoring project, the increases in the biological UV doses during this period seemed to be linked to the decreases in the ozone amounts.

Ozone depletion and climate change: impacts on UV radiation

“…33 However, the changes in UV deduced using these dosimeters is much larger than expected from changes in ozone over the same period, suggesting that there may be other factors that are not yet accounted for properly.…”

Mean Exposure Fractions of Human Body Solar UV Exposure Patterns for Application in Different Ambient Climates

“…Measurements and modeled predictions of the solar UV incident upon a horizontal plane are presented frequently in the literature (1–3). These results provide enough information to show geographic trends in solar UV exposure distributions, providing information on local UV climates to which population groups are exposed.…”

Biological Sensors for Solar Ultraviolet Radiation

“…Biological measurements of solar UV irradiation using this biological system have been under way since 1999, at more than 20 sites in Asia, Europe and South America [41]. This biodosimeter reveals several features that make it suitable for worldwide comparison and long-term monitoring.…”

“…The spore inactivation dose can be calculated from the absolute value of the natural logarithm of the surviving fraction: SID = −ln(Ne/Nc), Ne and Nc being the average of colony-formers recovered from exposed and control spots [23]. Results reported in the literature demonstrate the usefulness of spore dosimetry in the continuous long-term measurement of biologically effective solar-UV irradiation at different latitudes [23,41,44]. Moreover, other additional works indicate this biological system to be one of the most versatile and convenient approaches to monitor human personal exposure to sunlight [33–45].…”