Northwest skin cancer rates high

Northwest states may be sun-starved for much of the year, yet residents are more apt to suffer or die from skin cancer than those in most other states.

Scientists say there are plenty of factors to blame – a large fair-skinned Caucasian population and outdoor-oriented lifestyles among them. Still, for Washington and Oregon, where a large part of the population spends more time wearing raincoats than swimsuits, it’s a curiosity that skin cancer rates are so high.

“We’d like to change that,” said Luke Hall-Jordan, outreach and education specialist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

So the EPA and Washington state officials are hoping to instill sun-wary behaviors among residents. The target is schools, where a sun-safety curriculum will be taught using the EPA’s free SunWise program.

Schoolchildren will learn about the danger of too much sun and how they can protect themselves, such as using sunscreen, seeking shade during midday hours, wearing hats and sunglasses, and other protections.

Washington has the fifth-highest rate of melanoma in the country. Idaho is third and Oregon fourth.

Deaths related to skin cancer are higher, too. Idaho ranks third, Washington seventh and Oregon ninth.

About half of all new cancers diagnosed each year are skin cancers.

Hall-Jordan said the EPA estimates that if every school taught the SunWise curriculum, about 500 cases of skin cancer and two annual deaths from skin cancers could be prevented.