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Health Risks Associated With Excessive Exposure to Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Among Outdoor Workers in South Africa: An Overview

Exposure of outdoor workers to high levels of solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) poses significant, well-known health risks including skin cancer and eye diseases. In South Africa, little is known about how many workers are potentially overexposed to solar UVR and what the associated impacts on their...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Wright, Caradee Y., Norval, Mary
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8113384/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33996735
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.678680
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author Wright, Caradee Y.
Norval, Mary
author_facet Wright, Caradee Y.
Norval, Mary
author_sort Wright, Caradee Y.
collection PubMed
description Exposure of outdoor workers to high levels of solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) poses significant, well-known health risks including skin cancer and eye diseases. In South Africa, little is known about how many workers are potentially overexposed to solar UVR and what the associated impacts on their health might be. In this overview, the geography and solar UVR environment in South Africa are considered, as well as the different outdoor occupational groups likely to be affected by excessive solar UVR exposure. Sunburn, pterygium, cataract, keratinocyte cancers, and melanoma are discussed in the context of outdoor workers. Few studies in South Africa have considered these health issues and the most effective ways to reduce solar UVR exposure for those working outside. Several countries have developed policies and guidelines to support sun safety in the workplace which include training and education, in addition to the provision of personal protective equipment and managerial support. Several gaps in occupational sun protection and workplace sun safety for South Africa are identified. Legislation needs to recognize solar UVR exposure as an occupational health hazard, with sun safety guidelines and training provided for employers and employees.
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spelling pubmed-81133842021-05-13 Health Risks Associated With Excessive Exposure to Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Among Outdoor Workers in South Africa: An Overview Wright, Caradee Y. Norval, Mary Front Public Health Public Health Exposure of outdoor workers to high levels of solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) poses significant, well-known health risks including skin cancer and eye diseases. In South Africa, little is known about how many workers are potentially overexposed to solar UVR and what the associated impacts on their health might be. In this overview, the geography and solar UVR environment in South Africa are considered, as well as the different outdoor occupational groups likely to be affected by excessive solar UVR exposure. Sunburn, pterygium, cataract, keratinocyte cancers, and melanoma are discussed in the context of outdoor workers. Few studies in South Africa have considered these health issues and the most effective ways to reduce solar UVR exposure for those working outside. Several countries have developed policies and guidelines to support sun safety in the workplace which include training and education, in addition to the provision of personal protective equipment and managerial support. Several gaps in occupational sun protection and workplace sun safety for South Africa are identified. Legislation needs to recognize solar UVR exposure as an occupational health hazard, with sun safety guidelines and training provided for employers and employees. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-04-28 /pmc/articles/PMC8113384/ /pubmed/33996735 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.678680 Text en Copyright © 2021 Wright and Norval. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Wright, Caradee Y.
Norval, Mary
Health Risks Associated With Excessive Exposure to Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Among Outdoor Workers in South Africa: An Overview
title Health Risks Associated With Excessive Exposure to Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Among Outdoor Workers in South Africa: An Overview
title_full Health Risks Associated With Excessive Exposure to Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Among Outdoor Workers in South Africa: An Overview
title_fullStr Health Risks Associated With Excessive Exposure to Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Among Outdoor Workers in South Africa: An Overview
title_full_unstemmed Health Risks Associated With Excessive Exposure to Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Among Outdoor Workers in South Africa: An Overview
title_short Health Risks Associated With Excessive Exposure to Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Among Outdoor Workers in South Africa: An Overview
title_sort health risks associated with excessive exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation among outdoor workers in south africa: an overview
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8113384/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33996735
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.678680
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