Seasonal Minimum and Maximum Solar Ultraviolet Exposure Measurements of Classroom Teachers Residing in Tropical North Queensland, Australia

Downs, Nathan J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3191-6404 and Igoe, Damien P. and Parisi, Alfio V. and Taylor, Olivia and Lazzaroni, Shari L. and Rawlings, Alex and Garzon-Chavez, Daniel R. and Harrison, Simone L. (2019) Seasonal Minimum and Maximum Solar Ultraviolet Exposure Measurements of Classroom Teachers Residing in Tropical North Queensland, Australia. Photochemistry and Photobiology, 95. pp. 1083-1093. ISSN 0031-8655

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Abstract

The risk of keratinocyte skin cancer, malignant melanoma and ultraviolet radiation (UVR)-induced eye disease is disproportionately higher in Australia and New Zealand compared to equivalent northern hemisphere latitudes. While many teachers are aware of the importance of reinforcing sun-safety messages to students, many may not be aware of the considerable personal exposure risk while performing outdoor duties in locations experiencing high to extreme ambient-UVR year-round. Personal erythemally-effective exposure of classroom teachers in tropical Townsville (19.3o S) was measured to establish seasonal extremes in exposure behavior. Mean daily personal exposure was higher in winter (91.2 J m 2, 0.91 Standard Erythema Dose (SED)) than summer (63.3 J m-2, 0.63 SED). The range of exposures represent personal exposures that approximate current national guidelines for Australian workers at the study latitude of approximately 1.2 SED (30 J m-2 effective to the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection). Similar proportions of teachers spent more than 1 hour outdoors per day in winter (28.6%) and summer (23.6%) as part of their teaching duties with seasonal differences having little effect on the time of exposure. Personal exposures for teachers peaked during both seasons near school meal-break times at 11:00 am and 1:00 pm respectively.

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Item Type:	Article (Commonwealth Reporting Category C)
Refereed:	Yes
Item Status:	Live Archive
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre:	Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Agricultural, Computational and Environmental Sciences (1 Jul 2013 - 5 Sep 2019)
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre:	Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Agricultural, Computational and Environmental Sciences (1 Jul 2013 - 5 Sep 2019)
Date Deposited:	14 Jan 2020 02:08
Last Modified:	07 Feb 2020 00:34
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Teachers, Occupation, Skin cancer, Dosimetry, Ultraviolet, UV, SED
Fields of Research (2008):	02 Physical Sciences > 0299 Other Physical Sciences > 029999 Physical Sciences not elsewhere classified
Socio-Economic Objectives (2008):	E Expanding Knowledge > 97 Expanding Knowledge > 970102 Expanding Knowledge in the Physical Sciences
Identification Number or DOI:	https://doi.org/10.1111/php.13081
URI:	http://eprints.usq.edu.au/id/eprint/36124

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