[Cancer of the skin in Poland related to occupational factors].

The paper deals with the effects of occupational environment on the skin cancer prevalence rates. Particularly, the impact of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been enhanced. Due to the long latency between the initial contact with PAH-emitting substances (asphalt, tar, oils, soot) and cancer occurrence, and also due to the usually advanced age of affected workers, the evaluation of chemical carcinogens in skin cancer prevalence is hampered and so imprecise. On the other hand, the PAH-exposure in the working environment is considerable and scattered; the most skin cancer- affected population is not covered by occupational health service because of their advanced age. A reliable determination of the cancer risk in workers exposed to PAHs during their professionally active life would call for an epidemiological study with an appropriate selection of reference groups allowing for elimination of the factors modifying and disturbing the issue concerned. Such a study has been undertaken at the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Lódź.