A skin care web site this week pointed out one huge hole in the widely contested suggestion that UV exposure is the cause of melanoma skin cancer: indoor workers get melanoma more often than their outdoor-working counterparts. And a peer-reviewed paper penned by an FDA official is quantifying how odd that is.

“Research from the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health showed that although indoor workers typically receive 3 to 9 times less UV exposure than those outdoors, only the indoor group had an increased incidence of malignant skin cancer,” the skin care web site www.TruthInAging.com wrote, citing a peer-reviewed paper by an FDA UV specialist, Dr. Diane Godar.

“A paradox exists between indoor and outdoor workers because indoor workers get three to nine times less solar UV (290-400nm) exposure than outdoor workers get, yet only indoor workers have an increasing incidence of melanoma,” Godar wrote in a paper published in the journal Medical Hypotheses.

“We’ve said for years that the UV-melanoma relationship is at the least complex because indoor workers get more melanoma than outdoor workers, but Godar’s paper only adds to the power of that argument — given that indoor workers get 3-9 times less UV exposure and that melanoma statistics show that the disease is only increasing in indoor workers,” Smart Tan Vice President Joseph Levy said. “That adds power to those in the dermatology community who suggest that UV and melanoma might not be related at all.”

Smart Tan believes if UV and melanoma are related that sunburn — especially in those with fair skin — would be the connection and that sunburn prevention, not sun abstinence, is the key.

To read the TruthInAging.com story click here.