Abstract
A considerably high number of outdoor workers worldwide are constantly exposed for the majority of their working life to solar radiation (SR); this exposure is known to induce various adverse health effects, mainly related to its ultraviolet (UV) component. The skin and the eye are the principal target organs for both acute and long-term exposure. Actinic keratosis, non-melanoma skin cancers, and malignant melanoma are the main long-term adverse skin effects, whereas in the eye pterygium, cataracts, and according to an increasing body of evidence, macular degeneration may be induced. Despite this, SR exposure risk is currently undervalued, if not neglected, as an occupational risk factor for outdoor workers. SR exposure is influenced by various environmental and individual factors, and occupation is one of the most relevant. For a better understanding of this risk and for the development of more effective prevention strategies, one of the main problems is the lack of available and adequate methods to estimate SR worker exposure, especially long-term exposure. The main aims of this review were to provide a comprehensive overview of SR exposure risk of outdoor workers, including the UV exposure levels and the main methods recently proposed for short-term and cumulative exposure, and to provide an update of knowledge on the main adverse eye and skin effects. Finally, we also outline here preventive interventions to reduce occupational risk.
Highlights
IntroductionSolar radiation (SR) exposure can possibly be considered the oldest occupational risk
Solar radiation (SR) exposure can possibly be considered the oldest occupational risk.The exposure started together with the first human activities as hunting and fishing and agriculture
We report here a summary from a recent systematic review of the scientific papers published during the period 2008–2017, which considers the role of outdoor work as a risk factor for pterygium [44]
Summary
Solar radiation (SR) exposure can possibly be considered the oldest occupational risk. The exposure started together with the first human activities as hunting and fishing and agriculture. The adverse effects of this risk were recognized and described by Bernardino Ramazzini in 1700 in his textbook “De Morbis Artificum Diatriba”, reporting of naked farmers with extensive sunburns and associated hyperthermia [1]. SR can be considered a physical risk; the sun emits a wide range of the frequencies of the whole electromagnetic spectrum, but mainly in the range of non-ionizing radiations (NIR), including most of the natural incoherent optical radiation. According to the International Commission on Illumination (Commission Internationale d’Eclairage—CIE) [2], the spectrum of the optical radiation can be classified as: (1) (2) (3). Public Health 2018, 15, 2063; doi:10.3390/ijerph15102063 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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