Personal UV dosimetry by Bacillus subtilis spore films.
BACKGROUND
Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is known to be the most important risk factor for melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. Until today it has been impossible to measure reliably UVR in the frame of epidemiological studies. The recent development of a spore film containing spores of Bacillus subtilis resulted in a new method of UV measurement by personal dosimetry.


METHODS
The practical application of dosimeters was tested in 18 study persons under different circumstances of UV exposure and in 4 different geographical regions.


RESULTS
Eleven children carried dosimeters on their shoulders for 1 day, playing in- and outdoors on a sunny day in summertime. Their whole-day values ranged from 0.1 to 1.5 minimal erythema doses (MED) per day with a mean of 0.71 MED (+/-0.44). Four lifeguards in a public swimming-pool carried dosimeters on their shoulders for 11 days and received UV exposures ranging from 3.6 to 9.5 MED (mean 5.9 +/- 1.88). Three mountain guides with dosimeters attached to the lateral head in different mountain regions at 23 mountaineering activities received daily exposures of 4.44-17.07 MED (mean 11.9 +/- 3.8).


CONCLUSIONS
B. subtilis spore film dosimeters can be applied to different study persons including children and mountain guides under different climatic conditions. A broad range of UV exposures can reliably be measured with this method.
Moehrle
M
M
Section of Dermatological Oncology, Department of Dermatology, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany.
Garbe
C
C
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000531:Altitude; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000528:radiation effects; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009051:Mountaineering; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D018635:Rescue Work; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000528:radiation effects*; D013551:Swimming Pools; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays