Pilots at higher risk of skin cancer, study shows

London: Pilots and aircrew suffer from significantly higher rates of skin cancer than other professions, according to a study of occupational mortality in England and Wales.

The excess rates of melanoma among aircraft flight deck officers thought to be associated with prolonged exposure to cosmic radiation at high altitudes emerge from figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday.

The study, which covers deaths recorded over the decade from 1991 to 2000, reveals unusual patterns of links between selected careers and diseases.

The findings for melanoma are particularly stark since they reinforce fears about the risks of frequent flying observed in the previous decade's findings.

The ONS, which uses a statistical measure called the proportional mortality ratio (PMR), insists they cannot prove a "causal link between an occupation and a disease" but they do provide evidence of a "statistical association". A PMR of over 100 shows an excess of expected deaths compared to the normal population.

Melanoma is known to be related to exposure to sunlight.

"Aircraft flight deck officers, who had significantly elevated mortality from melanoma in 1979-1990 again had high mortality from the disease," the ONS study observes. It gave the profession a PMR level of 245.

"High rates of melanoma in pilots and aircrew have been reported in several other studies and some researchers have suggested that their exposure to cosmic radiation could be a contributing factor."

Asbestos-related deaths were most prevalent among carpenters, production fitters, electricians, plumbers and gas fitters, and certain groups of construction workers, according to the study.

"Cancers of the pleura [around the lungs] and peritoneum [the membrane around the abdominal cavity] are strongly related to asbestos exposure, and the large majority of cases are attributable to exposures in the workplace," it maintained.

"Asbestosis... results from exposures of a magnitude that normally occurs only occupationally."