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Baczynska KA, Rendell RJ, Khazova M. Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown on Sun Exposure of UK Office Workers. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:4362. [PMID: 33924038 PMCID: PMC8073424 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18084362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2021] [Revised: 04/13/2021] [Accepted: 04/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The impact of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in April-June 2020 on UV exposure of office workers was assessed using an online survey on time spent outdoors and environmental data for different locations in the UK. Without the need for commuting and with the flexibility of homeworking, weekday time spent outdoors was higher in the 2020 lockdown than in the same period in 2017. The weekday erythema effective radiant exposure was higher in 2020 due to an additional 45 min outdoors in the late afternoon that was not observed in 2017 and high UV levels due to extremely sunny weather in spring. The lockdown did not impact the frequency of time spent outdoors around midday, which was still governed by work commitments, and at the weekends, no difference between 2020 and 2017 was observed. In 2020, responders felt that time outdoors was very important for their health and well-being.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarzyna Anna Baczynska
- Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Public Health England, Chilton, Oxfordshire OX11 0RQ, UK; (R.J.R.); (M.K.)
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Cherrie JW, Nioi A, Wendelboe-Nelson C, Cowan S, Cherrie M, Rashid S, Cowie H, Ritchie P, Lansdown TC. Exposure to Solar UV During Outdoor Construction Work in Britain. Ann Work Expo Health 2021; 65:176-182. [PMID: 32155239 DOI: 10.1093/annweh/wxaa028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2019] [Revised: 02/14/2020] [Accepted: 02/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Excessive exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun in summer can cause skin cancer and in Britain there are around 1500 new cases of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) each year, caused by exposure to solar UV at work. Little is known about the magnitude of UV exposure amongst outdoor construction workers in Britain, although this is one of the main groups at risk. The aim of this paper is to summarise measurements of erythema-weighted UVB radiation amongst construction workers in Scotland and the Southeast of England and interpret the data in terms of the risk of NMSC. The measurements were made as part of an intervention study using short mobile phone text messages to alter worker behaviour to either reduce UV exposure in summer or increase serum vitamin D in winter; the intervention is only briefly reported here. Data were collected from 67 workers from 9 worksites, of whom 41 provided measures of UV exposure for 758 working days. Daily exposure ranged from 0 to 13.47 standard erythema dose (SED), with the mean exposure for outdoor workers being 2.0 SED and the corresponding value for indoor workers being 0.7 SED. These data were obtained from a sensor located on the back of the workers hard hat; others have measured exposure on the wrist or upper arm and these locations probably, on average, have higher levels of UV exposure. It is likely that an outdoor construction worker in Britain could accumulate sufficient solar UV exposure over 30-40 years of work to more than double their risk of NMSC. We argue that employers in Britain should take a more proactive approach to manage sun safety and they should take responsibility for skin health surveillance for their workers.
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Affiliation(s)
- John W Cherrie
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Biophysics and Bioengineering, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK.,Institute of Occupational Medicine, Centre for Human Exposure Science, Research Avenue North, Riccarton, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Amanda Nioi
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Biophysics and Bioengineering, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK
| | | | - Sue Cowan
- Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Mark Cherrie
- Institute of Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Shahzad Rashid
- Institute of Occupational Medicine, Centre for Human Exposure Science, Research Avenue North, Riccarton, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Hilary Cowie
- Institute of Occupational Medicine, Centre for Human Exposure Science, Research Avenue North, Riccarton, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Peter Ritchie
- Institute of Occupational Medicine, Centre for Human Exposure Science, Research Avenue North, Riccarton, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Terry C Lansdown
- Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK
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