Scientific American - USA (2022-06)

62 Scientific American, June 2022

■ Swimming or spending time in water 33%

■ Working outside own/family/friend’s home 26%

■ Traveling or vacationing for leisure 21%

■ Engaging in nonswimming physical activity 14%

■ Attending an outdoor event 13%

■ Relaxing (e.g., reading, napping) 11%

■ Trying to get a tan 6%

■ Working at job 5%

■ Drinking alcohol 3%

Activities Adults

Were Engaged

in When They

Experienced

Their Most

Recent Sunburn

Locations on the

Body Where

the Most Recent

Sunburn

Occurred

(percent of more

than 3,000 survey

respondents that

ticked each box)

Skin Melanoma: Country-Level Mortality and Incidence Rates in 2020 (age-standardized)

New Zealand

Norway

Neck or shoulders

66%

Don’t know/

remember 3%

Chest or abdomen

15%

Legs or feet

19%

Back

24%

Arms or hands

40%

Face or head

53%

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Incidence (per 100,000 people)

0

1

2

3

4

5

Mortality (per 100,000 people)

Africa

Latin America and

the Caribbean

North America

Asia

Europe

Oceania

Denmark Australia

Sweden The Netherlands

Slovenia

Ireland

Israel

U.S.

Germany

Slovakia

Serbia Croatia

Poland

Martinique France, New Caledonia

Montenegro

Samoa

French Polynesia

Canada

Austria

Namibia

Uruguay

Sources: GLOBOCAN 2020; Global Cancer Observatory; International Agency for Research on Cancer 2022 (

incidence and mortality rates

);^

“The Context of Sunburn among U.S. Adults: Common Activities and Sun Protection Behaviors,” by Dawn M. Holman et al., in

American Journal

of Preventive Medicine,

Vol. 60; May 2021 (

survey results

)

GRAPHIC SCIENCE

Text by Clara Moskowitz | Graphic by MSJONESNYC

The Where and When of Sunburns in the U.S.

A May 2021 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine analyzed a survey of more than 4,000 U.S. adults to find out what people were doing when they got

sunburned and where burns occurred. Although sunburns are a major risk factor for skin cancer, exposure that doesn’t lead to a burn can still be harmful, Jemal says.

“It’s important not to think you’re safe just because you’re not getting sunburned.”

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer, and

because older people make up a greater share of the

population in many places, including the U.S., it is on

the rise. The main cause of skin cancer is exposure

to the sun’s ultraviolet rays, but the risk varies great-

ly across the globe because of differences in skin pig-

mentation—which protects against skin cancer—and

the amount of direct sunlight that regions receive.

“Skin melanoma is nearly 30 times higher in whites

than in Blacks,” says Ahmedin Jemal, a cancer epide-

miologist at the American Cancer Society. “And even

in white populations there is a difference in sus-

ceptibility—those with fairer skin, blue eyes

and blond hair are more susceptible.”

Yet there are reasons for optimism. New

treatments for skin cancer, including immu-

notherapy, have helped raise survival rates,

which are now around 93 percent after five

years for people diagnosed with melanoma

relative to the general population.

Skin Cancer around the World

This leading cancer affects some populations and regions much more than others

UV radiation is

about 40 percent stronger

in New Zealand than it is at

corresponding latitudes in the

Northern Hemisphere. Because of

Earth’s tilt, the Southern Hemi­

sphere is closer to the sun during

its summer than the north is

during its own summer.

Scandinavian

countries have high

rates of skin melanoma as

a result of their populations’

fair skin, as well as their

penchant for visiting

Mediterranean

countries.

One of the reasons

Namibians are more prone

to skin cancer than residents of

other African nations is that this

country has the highest rate of

albinism per capita in the world.

The condition, which causes a lack of

pigmentation in skin, hair and eyes,

is associated with higher

skin cancer risks.