If you’re going to be in an airport this holiday season, have a look at the pilots and cabin crew making their way to the gates. Do they look tan to you? If so, it may not be the result of a quick sunny holiday to Aruba — their darker hues may be part of the job description.
A new study has found airline pilots and crew are often exposed to the same amount of UV radiation they would get from a session in a tanning bed. That’s because airplane windshields — made of polycarbonate plastic or multilayer composite glass — do not effectively filter out ultraviolet rays.
Tanning has long been tagged with a bad rap. With repeated exposure, UV radiation can cause DNA damage to the skin and can lead to melanoma, a type of skin cancer. Melanoma can be successfully treated, especially if it’s detected early. But it’s still a deadly disease — 10,000 people are expected to die from it this year alone.
The results show that when pilots fly for about an hour at 30,000 feet, they are exposed to the same amount of radiation they would get if they lay in a tanning bed for 20 minutes. For every additional 3,000 feet of altitude above sea level, the intensity of UV radiation increases by 15%. The authors of the study also suggest the level of UV exposure could be higher than what was observed during the experiment when pilots fly over thick clouds and snow, because these reflect radiation back into the cockpit.
“Airplane windshields do not completely block UV-A radiation and therefore are not enough to protect pilots,” writes Sanlorenzo in a paper in the journal JAMA Dermatology. “We strongly recommend the use of sunscreens and periodical skin checks for pilots and cabin crew.”