location selection description

Stratospheric Ozone and Human Health Project

US map icon UVIS: Selection of Cities

The metropolitan locations comprising the UV climatology data sets -- Albuquerque, Atlanta, Detroit, New Orleans, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Salt Lake City, San Francisco/Oakland, and Seattle -- were selected to correspond with the largest population centers found in the National Cancer Institute/National Institute of Health (NCI/NIH) study of non-melanoma skin cancer (Scotto et al., 1983). Honolulu was added in addition to these sites as a location that has registry information in a tropical climate setting. Honolulu, along with the other metro locations excluding Minneapolis/St. Paul, is part of the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program. This program, initiated in 1973, provides the most detailed cancer registy data in the United States, including statistics for melanoma of the skin. Although not all registry areas are strictly confined to these cities, these metropolitan areas chosen to develop the UV climatology data sets comprise the largest population centers in the reporting areas defined by the Scotto et al. study. The actual registry areas involved in the Scotto et al. program (noting the exception for Hawaii) were the following:

Atlanta, GA (SMSA)
Detroit, MI (SMSA)
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN (SMSA)
New Orleans, LA (metropolitan area)
San Francisco-Oakland, CA (SMSA);
Seattle, WA (King County);
Hawaii (state)
New Mexico (state)
Utah (state)

For comparison, the SEER reporting areas are given below:

Detroit, MI (SMSA);
San Francisco-Oakland, CA (SMSA);
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
Connecticut (state)
Iowa (state)
New Mexico (state)
Utah (state)
Hawaii (state)
New Orleans, LA (SMSA, added 1974-75)
Seattle/Puget Sound, WA (13 counties, added 1974-75)
Atlanta, GA (SMSA, added 1974-75)
Georgia (10 rural black counties, added 1978)
Arizona (American Indian residents, added 1980)
New Jersey (4 counties, added 1983)

SMSA = Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area

In 1974-75, the program was extended to include metro areas of New Orleans, LA, the 13-county Seattle/Puget Sound, WA area, and the Atlanta, GA metro area. New Orleans only participated in the program in 1977. In addition, ten predominantly black rural counties in Georgia were added in 1978; in 1980, American Indian residents in Arizona were added; in 1983, four New Jersey counties were added with coverage dating back to 1979. Both New Jersey and and Puerto Rico contributed to the SEER program only through the 1989 reporting year (Ries et al., 1994).

The locations included in this project were selected to act as a prototype in developing the UV Interactive Service. The remaining SEER reporting areas are likely to be added to the UV Interactive Service in future editions of this product. Having accurate, long-term estimates of UV exposure levels in areas of reliable skin cancer registries may aid epidemiologists and public health researchers in addressing the role of UV radiation exposure in skin cancer in greater detail.

REFERENCES:

Ries, L.A.G., Miller, B.A., Hankey, B.F., Kosary, C.L., Harras, A., and B.K. Edwards, eds. SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1973-1991: Tables and Graphs. National Cancer Institute. NIH Pub. No. 94-2789. Bethesda, MD, 1994.
Scotto, J., Fears, T.R., and J.F. Fraumeni, Jr. Incidence of Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer in the United States. National Cancer Institute. NIH Pub. No. 83-2433. Bethesda, MD, 1983.

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