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Pilots, flight crews face higher risk of skin cancer


Airline pilots and flight crews may face as much as twice the risk of the type of skin cancer known as melanoma compared with the general population, according to a new analysis of existing research.

However, it's not clear whether exposure to the sun during flight time is responsible for the increased risk.

The lead author of the new analysis, Dr. Susana Ortiz-Urda, co-director of the UCSF Melanoma Center at the University of California, San Francisco, said the findings are "very worrisome." She called on airlines to make their windows more protective against the ultraviolet (UV) rays of the sun. In addition, she said, "more measurements should be performed by the Federal Aviation Administration in regards to cumulative UV exposure for pilots and cabin crew."

But not everyone agrees that UV exposure during flights is to blame for the increased risk. And, due to the design of the study, the researchers were only able to show an association between working on an airliner and an increased risk of melanoma. They were not able to prove that extra flying time caused these cancers.

Eero Pukkala, a Finnish researcher who studies the risks facing people who work in airplanes, said other factors may be the cause. He noted that airline windows provide extensive protection against the sun's skin-damaging rays. Pukkala suggested that more frequent travel to sunny climates and sun-tanning by pilots and cabin crew members could explain the higher risk.