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Occupational exposure to arsenic, mercury and UV radiation and risk of melanoma: a case–control study from Italy

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Abstract

Background

Melanoma is mainly caused by sunlight radiation, but other environmental risk factors are not well known. We investigated the association between cutaneous melanoma and occupational exposure to arsenic, mercury and UV radiation.

Methods

A hospital-based case–control study was conducted in the inpatient wards of IDI-San Carlo Rome, Italy, including 304 incident cases of cutaneous melanoma and 305 frequency-matched controls. Detailed sociodemographic, clinical and host-related factors were collected, and all participants were physically examined using dermoscopy and following standard protocol for recording pigmented lesions. Four experts assessed exposure to arsenic, mercury and UV radiation based on occupational history. A multidimensional variable was created for each risk factor, by combining intensity and probability of exposure. Multivariable logistic regression models were run to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of the association between exposure to these agents and melanoma.

Results

A total of 5.4% of the cases vs 2.4% of the controls were exposed to arsenic (OR = 3.12; 95% CI = 1.10–8.86 for high probability and high exposure to arsenic) after controlling for sex, age, smoking status, number of nevi, phototype and history of sunburns in childhood/adolescence. Occupational exposure to mercury and UV radiation was not associated with the risk of melanoma.

Conclusions

Subjects exposed to arsenic at the workplace may be at increased risk of developing cutaneous melanoma in comparison to subjects not exposed to this agent. Further studies should be designed to investigate occupational exposure to arsenic and mercury and melanoma and confirm the findings are warranted.

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Data availability

Original de-identified data are available from the PI of the original study (CF) to bona-fide investigators upon reasonable request for non-commercial purposes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Alberto Andolfato, Laura Astolfi and Ludovica Leomanni for helping in the exposure assessment.

Funding

This work was supported by the Istituto Dermopatico dell’Immacolata, IRCCS (Progetto Ricerca Corrente, 5.1, Italian Ministry of Health).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Giulia Collatuzzo, Paolo Boffetta, Giovanni Visci & Carlotta Zunarelli

  2. Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA

    Paolo Boffetta

  3. Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Emi Dika

  4. Epidemiology Unit, Istituto Dermopatico dell’Immacolata Concezione, IDI-IRCCS, Rome, Italy

    Simona Mastroeni & Cristina Fortes

  5. Dermatology Department, Istituto Dermopatico dell’Immacolata Concezione, IDI-IRCCS, Rome, Italy

    Gianluca Antonelli

Authors
  1. Giulia Collatuzzo
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  2. Paolo Boffetta
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  3. Emi Dika
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  4. Giovanni Visci
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  5. Carlotta Zunarelli
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  6. Simona Mastroeni
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  7. Gianluca Antonelli
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  8. Cristina Fortes
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Contributions

CF: designed the original study. CF, SM and GA: conducted the original study. PB, CF and ED: designed the current analysis. PB, GV and CZ: conducted the exposure assessment. GC: performed the data management. GC and PB: performed the statistical analysis. CF and ED: critically reviewed the results and provided input in the interpretation. GC: drafted the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paolo Boffetta.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Istituto Dermopatico dell’Immacolata, IRCCS. Participants provided written informed consent. Ethics approval number—Not Applicable.

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Collatuzzo, G., Boffetta, P., Dika, E. et al. Occupational exposure to arsenic, mercury and UV radiation and risk of melanoma: a case–control study from Italy. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 96, 443–449 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-022-01935-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-022-01935-8

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