Airline pilots, cabin crews at double the risk of melanoma than general population

A new study has suggested airline pilots and cabin crews have a twice the risk of melanoma as compared to general population.

The study conducted by University of California, San Francisco assessed the risk of melanoma in pilots and airline crew by reviewing medical literature.

According to the study, flight-based workers are thought to have a greater occupational hazard risk of melanoma because of increased altitude-related exposure to UV and cosmic radiation.

The study demonstrated that while the risks of exposure to ionizing radiation for pilots and cabin crew were known and the levels regularly monitored, UV exposure was not a well-recognized occupational risk factor for the flight crew.

The authors found out that the combined and separate SIRs for pilots and cabin crew were greater than the 2, indicating that pilots and air crew had twice the incidence of melanoma compared with the general population.