13 May 2026
Australian radiation experts worked with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to publish new research that finds ozone depletion has had a small effect on Australia’s high incidence of skin cancer compared to other ultraviolet radiation (UV) related factors.
Ozone depletion allows more cancer-causing UV to reach Earth’s surface, which is why scientists want to understand what impact it has had on sun-related diseases.
World leading experts at the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), Associate Professor Ken Karipidis and Dr Stuart Henderson, contributed to the study.
A/Prof Karipidis says that melanoma incidence and mortality rates in Australia remain some of the highest in the world with two-thirds of Australians set to receive a skin cancer diagnosis in their lifetime.
‘What was interesting about this study was that the small effect on skin cancer from ozone depletion was the same in the US and Australia, even though ozone depletion in the southern hemisphere and skin cancer rates in Australia are much higher than in the US,’ A/Prof Karipidis said.
‘The paper found that genetic susceptibility of skin types, sun exposure behaviours, public health measures like early diagnosis, and proximity to the equator have more of an influence on Australia’s skin cancer rates than ozone depletion.’
Dr Stuart Henderson says the study used modelling to compare UV exposure and resulting skin cancer and cataract rates between the United States and Australia from 1980 to 2015. Atmospheric data was then used to see what impact ozone depletion had on the rates of these diseases.
‘Australia receives much more UV through the atmosphere than the US – about 24 per cent more. But it’s the other factors like Australia’s culture of sun tanning that contribute more to UV-related diseases than ozone depletion,’ Dr Henderson said.
‘This paper reinforces the need to continue educating the community that they need to protect themselves from the sun using the slip, slop, slap, seek, and slide measures.
‘We maintain a monitoring network across all of Australia’s main population centres so people can access the live UV index, which guides them on when to use sun protection.’
The paper predicts that ozone depletion is unlikely to have much influence on skin cancer rates in the future. The success of international agreements to phase out the production of chemicals causing atmospheric ozone depletion has meant that ozone depletion peaked in the 1990s, and a full recovery is expected by the middle of this century.
ARPANSA scientists collaborate with eminent international health authorities including the US EPA to build knowledge so the agency can continue to protect people and the environment from the harmful effects of radiation.
Read the full paper here: Effects of Ozone-Depleting Substances on Ultraviolet Radiation and Skin Cancer Rates in Australia and the United States of America
