Occupational sunlight exposure in relation to suicide among electric utility workers

Abstract

Background Occupational sunlight exposure was examined in relation to death from suicide in a United States cohort of 138,905 male electric utility workers. Methods Case‐control sampling included 536 deaths from suicide and 5,348 eligible controls randomly selected from the cohort. Exposure was classified based on work history linked to indices of cumulative sunlight exposure. Results Mortality from suicide was not associated with estimates of recent and 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 and risk estimates were notably imprecise. Conclusions These data provide evidence against an association between occupational sunlight exposure and mortality from suicide. Am. J. Ind. Med. 38:149–154, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Well-Being and Social Capital: Does Suicide Pose a Puzzle?

“…There are brain mechanisms sensitive to sunlight, for example controlling the hormone melatonin. However, a large study of electrical workers exposed to differing amount of sunlight in the course of their jobs showed no evidence of higher suicide rates among those with more exposure to sunlight (Van Wijngaarden and Savitz, 2000). And a study based on simple correlation has argued for a positive relation between latitude and suicide rates (Davis and Lowell, 2002).…”