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Melanoma mortality and exposure to ultraviolet radiation: An empirical relationship [1]

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Date: 1991-01-01  

Results are presented from a study of the relationship of melanoma deaths to ambient ultraviolet radiation levels for the United States. A National Air and Space Administration (NASA) satellite-based model is used to estimate ambient levels of ultraviolet radiation and an EPA/NCI data base provides melanoma death rates for a thirty-year period used as a response measure. Estimates of effective dose were derived by applying different weighting functions to the ambient UV energy levels predicted by the NASA model for 215 Standard Metropolitan Areas (SMA), thereby developing estimates of active UV energy which would penetrate the epidermis of individuals at various locations. Biological weighting functions included ones based on the action spectra for erythema and DNA-damage; in the latter instance, dose estimates were modified by factors for transmission through lightly pigmented (skin type I untanned; “White”) skin. For purposes of comparison, a weighting function based on the response of a Robertson-Berger (R-B) meter is also included. A highly statistically significant association between all measures of dose and death rates is found, with dose estimates based on application of a weighting function derived from the action spectrum for DNA-damage (DNA-weighted dose) providing (very marginally) the strongest relationship. Controls for ethnicity, income, education, and occupation reduce the size of the effect, but the effect remains significant. The death rates in males show a greater response than those in females to changes in estimated dose. Variations in the duration of the exposure measure (e.g., peak or cumulative dose) have a large impact on the estimates of the effects that ozone depletion will have on cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) mortality. For a dose estimate based on the amount of DNA-weighted UV energy received on a clear day in June (“peak dose”), results imply a 1% reduction in ozone will result in a 1.6% increase in male death rates and a 1.1% increase in female death rates. A dose estimate based on an annual amount of DNA-weighted UV energy (“annual dose”) implies mortality changes of 0.82% for men and 0.57% for women for a 1% change in ozone.

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[1] Url: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/016041209190333L

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