Occupational Sunlight Exposure in Relation to Suicide Among Electric Utility Workers

Occupational sunlight exposure was examined in relation to death from suicide in an American cohort of 138,905 male electric utility workers. Case-control sampling included 536 deaths from suicide & 5,348 eligible controls randomly selected from the cohort. Exposure was classified based on work history linked to indices of cumulative sunlight exposure. Suicide mortality was not associated with estimates of recent & career occupational sunlight exposure, with adjusted odds ratios around unity. Occupational sunlight exposure was positively associated with nonviolent suicides, but no dose-response gradient was observed & risk estimates were notably imprecise. (29 refs.)