Melanoma incidence and frequency modulation (FM) broadcasting.

Abstract

The incidence of melanoma has been increasing steadily in many countries since 1960, but the underlying mechanism causing this increase remains elusive. The incidence of melanoma has been linked to the distance to frequency modulation (FM) broadcasting towers. In the current study, the authors sought to determine if there was also a related link on a larger scale for entire countries. Exposure-time-specific incidence was extracted from exposure and incidence data from 4 different countries, and this was compared with reported age-specific incidence of melanoma. Geographic differences in melanoma incidence were compared with the magnitude of this environmental stress. The exposure-time-specific incidence from all 4 countries became almost identical, and they were approximately equal to the reported age-specific incidence of melanoma. A correlation between melanoma incidence and the number of locally receivable FM transmitters was found. The authors concluded that melanoma is associated with exposure to FM broadcasting.