Simulated stratospheric ozone depletion and increased ultraviolet radiation: effects on photocarcinogenesis in hairless mice

Journal Article · Thu Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1982 · Cancer Res.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6702443

Forbes, P D; Davies, R E; Urbach, F; Berger, D; Cole, C

Solar ultraviolet radiation at the surface of the earth is a recognized cause of skin cancer. Postulated anthropogenic reductions in the thickness of the ozone layer would lead to an increased amount of ultraviolet radiation and hence would be expected to increase the risk of skin carcinogenesis. This study uses hairless (Skh:HR) mice as an animal model to study this increased risk. The mice were exposed 5 days/week to graded doses of ultraviolet radiation from a xenon arc lamp attenuated by five different thicknesses of Schott glass filters (WG320) to simulate various ozone layer thicknesses. A Robertson-Berger sunburning ultraviolet meter was used as one of the forms of dosimetry. These results indicate that the effective dose for skin cancer induction may be estimated from the Robertson-Berger meter dose but that the Robertson-Berger meter response spectrum underestimates the photocarcinogenic effectiveness of the shorter wavelengths. The cumulative tumor yield data are also consistent with these conclusions. Alternate weighting of the source spectra with the acute-response action spectrum for mouse skin edema gave a better correlation between unit dose and time to a tumor response, independent of the source spectral distribution. This suggests that the mouse skin edema action spectrum, indistinguishable from a human skin erythema action spectrum for lambda greater than 295 nm, is similar in shape to the mouse skin photocarcinogenesis action spectrum for lambda greater than 295 nm.

• Research Organization: Center for Photobiology, Temple University Health Sciences, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• OSTI ID: 6702443
• Journal Information: Cancer Res.; (United States), Journal Name: Cancer Res.; (United States) Vol. 42:7; ISSN CNREA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
ANIMALS
ATTENUATION
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BIOLOGICAL MODELS
BODY
CARCINOGENESIS
CHEMISTRY
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DISEASES
DOSEMETERS
DOSES
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EDEMA
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
MAMMALS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MICE
NEOPLASMS
ORGANS
OZONE
PATHOGENESIS
PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES
PHOTOCHEMISTRY
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATIONS
RISK ASSESSMENT
RODENTS
SENSITIVITY
SIMULATION
SKIN
SYMPTOMS
TIME DEPENDENCE
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
VERTEBRATES