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Seasonal Variation in Measured Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Exposure of Adults in Subtropical Australia
Author(s) -
Neale Rachel E.,
Hamilton Abbey R.,
Janda Monika,
Gies Peter,
Green Adele C.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
photochemistry and photobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.818
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1751-1097
pISSN - 0031-8655
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-1097.2009.00686.x
Subject(s) - subtropics , environmental science , ultraviolet radiation , sun protection , latitude , sunlight , humid subtropical climate , low latitude , seasonality , population , geography , demography , toxicology , medicine , environmental health , biology , ecology , chemistry , physics , geodesy , pathology , astronomy , sociology , radiochemistry
Generating accurate population‐specific public health messages regarding sun protection requires knowledge about seasonal variation in sun exposure in different environments. To address this issue for a subtropical area of Australia, we used polysulphone badges to measure UVR for the township of Nambour (26° latitude) and personal UVR exposure among Nambour residents who were taking part in a skin cancer prevention trial. Badges were worn by participants for two winter and two summer days. The ambient UVR was approximately three times as high in summer as in winter. However, participants received more than twice the proportion of available UVR in winter as in summer (6.5% vs 2.7%, P < 0.05), resulting in an average ratio of summer to winter personal UVR exposure of 1.35. The average absolute difference in daily dose between summer and winter was only one‐seventh of a minimal erythemal dose. Extrapolating from our data, we estimate that ca . 42% of the total exposure received in the 6 months of winter (June–August) and summer (December–February) is received during the three winter months. Our data show that in Queensland a substantial proportion of people’s annual UVR dose is obtained in winter, underscoring the need for dissemination of sun protection messages throughout the year in subtropical and tropical climates.