Estimating Occupational Exposure to Ultraviolet Radiation Using the Canadian Occupation Exposure Matrix (CANJEM) in a Nationwide Cohort of French Adults

Background: In Europe, 14.5 million workers are exposed to significant levels of ultraviolet radiation (UVR), increasing their risk of non-melanoma skin cancer. This issue has not received sufficient recognition or research, particularly in France. Our objective was to estimate the occupational exposure to UVR in a large sample of French adults.Methods: Constances, a French nationwide population-based cohort initiated in 2012, includes a random sample of adults aged 18-69 years. Lifetime occupational histories were available in 98,895 participants. Their jobs were classified using PCS 2003 for occupations and NAF 2008 for industries and were linked to the Canadian occupation-exposure matrix (CANJEM), enabling the generation of UVR exposure histories for 93,009 participants (94.0 %).Workers were considered as exposed to UVR if, during their whole career, they held for at least 1 year at least one UVR-exposed occupation (using 15% and 25% probability thresholds).Results: Among the 93,009 studied participants, 54.2% were men, and the mean age was 49.2 years. Using a ≥15% probability threshold, 8.13% (95% confidence interval (CI) [7.95-8.31]) were exposed to UVR. With a ≥25% exposure probability threshold, 3.39% (95% CI [3.28-3.52]) were exposed to UVR.For individuals with a probability threshold≥15%, 58.23% were blue-collar workers, primarily men (84.24%), while most women were clerical and related workers (63.23%). The top five professions in this group were sociocultural and leisure animators (24.96%, mostly women), skilled masons (5.73%, all men), gardeners (3.93%, mainly men), directors of sociocultural and leisure centers (3.74%, gender-balanced), and market gardening or horticultural workers (3.64%, balanced gender).For those with a probability threshold ≥25%, 85.95% were blue-collar workers of both genders. The top five professions in this group were gardeners (9.49%, mostly men), market gardening or horticultural workers (8.50 %, mixed gender), viticulture/fruit tree cultivation workers (7.78%, balanced gender), agricultural/forestry workers (7.65%, mostly men), and qualified welders (7.30%, mainly men).Conclusions: This study estimated combined solar and artificial UVR radiation exposure among French workers using the Canjem matrix. Future research will investigate associations with skin cancers and eye diseases (cataracts, age-related macular degeneration) and explore the use of the Carex matrix for solar exposure alone.