Wavelength dependence of pyrimidine dimer formation in DNA of human skin irradiated in situ with ultraviolet light
- Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY (USA)
The UV components of sunlight are believed to be a major cause of human skin caner, and DNA is though to be the principal molecular target. Alterations of the intensity and wavelength distribution of solar UV radiation reaching the surface of the earth, for example by depletion of stratospheric ozone, will change the effectiveness of solar radiation in damaging DNA in human skin. Evaluation of the magnitude of such effects requires knowledge of the altered sunlight spectrum and of the action spectrum for damaging DNA in human skin. The authors have determined an action spectrum for the frequency of pyrimidine dimer formation induced in the DNA of human skin per unit dose of UV incident on the skin surface. The peak of this action spectrum is near 300 nm and decreases rapidly at both longer and shorter wavelengths. The decrease in the action spectrum for wavelengths <300 nm is attributed to the absorption of the upper layers of the skin. Convolution of the dimer action spectrum with the solar spectra corresponding to a solar angle of 40{degree} under current levels of stratospheric ozone and those for 50% ozone depletion, indicate about a 2.5-fold increase in dimer formation. If the action spectrum for DNA damage that results in skin cancer resembles that for dimer induction in skin, these results suggest that a 50% decrease in stratospheric ozone would increase the incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancers among white males in Seattle, Washington, by 7.5- to 8-fold, to a higher incidence than is presently seen in the corresponding population of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
- OSTI ID:
- 5440971
- Journal Information:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; (USA), Vol. 86:14; ISSN 0027-8424
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
CARCINOGENESIS
RISK ASSESSMENT
PYRIMIDINE DIMERS
RADIOINDUCTION
DNA
DOSE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIPS
EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
FAR ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
MAN
NEW MEXICO
SKIN
WASHINGTON
ANIMALS
BODY
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
FEDERAL REGION VI
FEDERAL REGION X
MAMMALS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANS
PATHOGENESIS
PRIMATES
RADIATIONS
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
USA
VERTEBRATES
560120* - Radiation Effects on Biochemicals
Cells
& Tissue Culture