Air cabin crews have a greater risk of skin cancer

Air cabin crews have a greater risk of skin cancer - health - 04 September 2014 - New Scientist

Pilots and flight crews on airliners are twice as likely as the general population to develop life-threatening melanoma skin cancer. 

The extra risk most likely comes from aircrew's increased exposure to sunlight penetrating the aircraft windows and windshields.

Total UV radiation is twice as intense at altitudes of 9000 to 10,000 metres – the cruising height of passenger planes – than at ground level.

Plane windows admit only tiny amounts of ultraviolet B sunlight – the type of UV radiation usually blamed for causing skin cancer. However, a study published in 2007 by the US Federal Aviation Administration looking at the windows in eight different types of airliner showed that, on average, 54 per cent of UVA radiation came through glass-based windows.

UVA is a potent but often overlooked cause of skin damage and cancer, says Martina Sanlorenzo of the University of California at San Francisco, who led the latest work.