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Background Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is the most important risk factor for skin cancer development. Sunlight is the main source of UV radiation in the general population. In addition, tanning beds are a source of artificial UV radiation. Since the incidence of skin cancer is increasing worldwide, it is necessary to monitor UV-related risk behaviors such as intentional indoor and outdoor tanning, as well as sun protection behavior in the general population and specific subgroups and settings. This is the aim of the National Cancer Aid Monitoring online (NCAM-online), a continuation and further development of the NCAM. Methods The NCAM-online is a longitudinal trend study consisting of four annual survey waves. Each year, 4,000 individuals aged 16–65 years living in Germany will be surveyed using online questionnaires. Each year, intentional indoor and outdoor tanning will be assessed. In addition, varying specific topics regarding skin cancer prevention, such as the utilization of skin cancer screening, will be addressed in the questionnaires. Discussion The findings of the NCAM-online will provide an important basis for the German Cancer Aid and Working Group on Dermatologic Prevention (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Dermatologische Prävention, ADP) to develop targeted prevention campaigns and projects aimed at preventing skin cancer. The explorative nature of the NCAM-online allows for the identification of new potential starting points for prevention and education. In addition, the longitudinal design allows for a description of the trend in the prevalence of intentional tanning. For tanning bed use, representative trend data from 2012 are available for Germany, to which NCAM-online will add annual data until 2027.

Introduction Adolescents increase their skin cancer risk through exposure to ultraviolet radiation, tanning, and poor use of sun-safety practices. Past studies documented that adolescent indoor tanning is associated with substance use. However, these did not examine e-cigarette use as many were conducted prior to their widespread popularity nor were most studies focused on areas with high environmental risk for skin cancer. The present study examined the current relationship between indoor tanning and substance use, including e-cigarettes, in an area with high skin cancer burden. Methods Data for the current study stem from a statewide survey of middle and high school students in a high melanoma burden state of the United States ( N  = 22,141). The survey assessed student’s reported indoor tanning, alcohol use, cigarette smoking, and e-cigarette and marijuana usage. Results Across all student participants, 3.5% reported indoor tanning one or more times in the past 12 months. Weighted chi-square tests revealed statistically significant associations between indoor tanning and other health risk behaviors ( p  < 0.001). Specifically, higher alcohol consumption, e-cigarette use, marijuana use, and cigarette use were all significantly associated with more frequent indoor tanning. Female and older adolescents were more likely to report indoor tanning. Conclusions Indoor tanning among adolescents is associated with increased odds of engaging in substance use behaviors, including e-cigarette use. Health interventions for adolescents may benefit from addressing multiple health risk behaviors concurrently and targeting adolescents most in need for health interventions. Future work to better understand the common mechanisms underlying co-occurring health risk behaviors could inform development of such interventions.

Background Frequent exposure to ultraviolet light has more detrimental and longer-term effects on the skin in early life than in adulthood. Teenagers with strong sun-seeking behaviors may be more likely to use an indoor tanning bed than those who seek less sun. We aimed to examine associations between sun-seeking behaviors and indoor tanning behavior during high school/college in US females. Methods In this cross-sectional study, we used data from The Nurses’ Health Study II, a large prospective cohort of US female nurses. We included a total of 81,746 white females who provided responses on the average annual frequency of indoor tanning during high school/college. Our study exposures were number of times/week spent outdoors in a swimsuit and percentage of time wearing sunscreen at the pool/beach as a teenager, weekly hours spent outdoors in direct sunlight during the daytime during high school/college, and number of severe sunburns that blistered between ages 15–20 years. The main outcome was annual frequency of indoor tanning bed usage during high school/college. Results In multivariable-adjusted logistic regression, we demonstrated positive associations between sun-seeking behaviors and indoor tanning use. Specifically, teenagers who spent 7 times/week outdoors in a swimsuit (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 95% confidence interval [CI] for daily vs. <1/week: 2.68, 1.76–4.09) were more likely to use indoor tanning beds ≥ 12 times/year. Teenagers with ≥ 10 sunburns (aOR, 95% CI for ≥ 10 vs. never: 2.18, 1.53–3.10) were more likely to use indoor tanning beds ≥ 12 times/year. Also, teenagers/undergraduates who spent ≥ 5 h/week outdoors in direct sunlight (aOR, 95% CI for ≥ 5 h/week vs. <1 h/week: 2.18, 1.39–3.44) were more likely to use indoor tanning ≥ 12 times/year. However, there was not a significant association between average usage of sunscreen at the pool/beach and average usage of indoor tanning beds. Multivariable-adjusted linear regression models also showed similar results. Conclusions Teenagers who spent more time outdoors in a swimsuit/direct sunlight or got more sunburns tended to use indoor tanning more frequently. These findings provide evidence that teenagers with stronger sun-seeking behaviors may have more exposure to artificial ultraviolet radiation as well. Key points Question: How are outdoor sun-seeking behaviors associated with indoor tanning behavior? Findings: This large study using data from the Nurses’ Health Study II (NHSII) found that females who spent more time outdoors or got more sunburns tended to use indoor tanning more frequently than those who rarely or never engaged in outdoor sun-seeking behaviors. Meaning: The findings reveal the associations between outdoor sun-seeking behaviors and indoor tanning behavior, which could increase awareness of UV-seeking behaviors and underscore appropriate interventions directed at adolescent and young adult females with such behaviors.

To overcome the stringent regulations in the usage of chromium salts and dye-rich effluent let out by the tanning industry, a sustainable way of leather processing has been demonstrated utilizing amine pendant metal–organic frameworks (MOF) UiO-66-NH 2 along with glyoxal. It was found that an offer of 8% (w/w) MOF along with 6% (w/w) glyoxal increased the shrinkage temperature of the leathers to 89 ± 2 °C with exhaustion of MOF up to 84.3 ± 1.5%. The presence of cationic amine sites in the MOF aided in the fixation of anionic post-tanning agents and improved the adsorption of dyes from 74.3 ± 2.5% in the case of conventional leather to 91.8 ± 1.7% for experimental leather. In comparison to chrome-tanned leather, the experimental leathers were rated the highest in terms of dye fastness concerning rubbing action and against perspiration, showcasing the washable properties and better affinity and irreversible binding of dyes to the leather matrix. Mechanism studies through XPS spectroscopy revealed the interaction between the acidic amino acids of collagen and free zirconium metal sites and the imine linkage between amine pendants of MOF and basic amino acids of collagen protein. Further, the BOD 5 /COD ratio of 0.36 confirmed the better treatability of the wastewater emanating from the proposed process making it a sustainable tanning system. Thus, the combination of amine pendant MOFs with dialdehyde can be a promising strategy for the development of robust chrome-free leathers with excellent functional properties. Graphical abstract

Extensive use of chromium (Cr) and arsenic (As) based preservatives from the leather tanning industry in Pakistan has had a deleterious effect on the soils surrounding production facilities. Bacteria have been shown to be an active component in the geochemical cycling of both Cr and As, but it is unknown how these compounds affect microbial community composition or the prevalence and form of metal resistance. Therefore, we sought to understand the effects that long-term exposure to As and Cr had on the diversity and structure of soil microbial communities. Soils from three spatially isolated tanning facilities in the Punjab province of Pakistan were analyzed. The structure, diversity and abundance of microbial 16S rRNA genes were highly influenced by the concentration and presence of hexavalent chromium (Cr (VI)) and arsenic. When compared to control soils, contaminated soils were dominated by Proteobacteria while Actinobacteria and Acidobacteria (which are generally abundant in pristine soils) were minor components of the bacterial community. Shifts in community composition were significant and revealed that Cr (VI)-containing soils were more similar to each other than to As contaminated soils lacking Cr (VI). Diversity of the arsenic resistance genes, arsB and ACR3 were also determined. Results showed that ACR3 becomes less diverse as arsenic concentrations increase with a single OTU dominating at the highest concentration. Chronic exposure to either Cr or As not only alters the composition of the soil bacterial community in general, but affects the arsenic resistant individuals in different ways.

Outdoor and indoor tanning are considered as risk factors for the development of skin cancer. The aims of this nationwide representative study were to quantify both behaviors in a sample with a wide age range, to identify those showing both behaviors and to explore and compare determinants of both behaviors. We used data from the fifth wave (2019) of the National Cancer Aid Monitoring (NCAM). We surveyed the representative sample including 4000 individuals, aged 16–65 years, living in Germany. Data were collected through telephone interviews. In addition to descriptive statistics, we used logistic regression analyses to identify determinants. The one-year-prevalence of tanning bed use was 7.5%, while 31.9% tanned (very) often intentionally outdoors in at least one situation (weekdays, holidays, and weekends). A total of 3.2% reported both risk behaviors. Regression analyses revealed that tanning bed use is associated with employment, an increased number of naevi, and lack of risk awareness. Intentional outdoor tanning was associated with male sex, younger age, past tobacco use, and low risk awareness of UV radiation. Our findings suggest that only a minority of subjects showed both risk behaviors. This implies that individuals seem to perform either one behavior or the other. In addition, the associated determinants differed between both behaviors, implying that specific preventive measures tailored to address to each tanning behavior are needed.

The discharge of untreated tannery wastewater containing biotoxic substances of heavy metals in the ecosystem is one of the most important environmental and health challenges in our society. Hence, there is a growing need for the development of novel, efficient, eco-friendly, and cost-effective approach for the remediation of inorganic metals (Cr, Hg, Cd, and Pb) released into the environment and to safeguard the ecosystem. In this regard, recent advances in microbes-base heavy metal have propelled bioremediation as a prospective alternative to conventional techniques. Heavy metals are nonbiodegradable and could be toxic to microbes. Several microorganisms have evolved to develop detoxification mechanisms to counter the toxic effects of these inorganic metals. This present review offers a critical evaluation of bioremediation capacity of microorganisms, especially in the context of environmental protection. Furthermore, this article discussed the biosorption capacity with respect to the use of bacteria, fungi, biofilm, algae, genetically engineered microbes, and immobilized microbial cell for the removal of heavy metals. The use of biofilm has showed synergetic effects with many fold increase in the removal of heavy metals as sustainable environmental technology in the near future.

The tanning industry faces significant challenges in quality control due to the complex transformations of leather, the anisotropic nature of the raw material, and the increasing adoption of innovative processes and materials in the tanning methods. In this study, it was possible to evaluate the applicability of a Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) technique such as near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy applied to the new generation of tanning products and processes as a potential technique for supporting product and process quality control activities. A microNIR sensor was employed to analyse intermediate leather samples, nano-functionalised finishing products, and tanning waters. By means of Principal Component Analysis (PCA), it was possible to differentiate tanned products with traditional processes and innovative methods. The same chemometric model was applied for process control when using nanostructured substances which helped to assess how effectively the nanostructured agents were incorporated into the final material. These results demonstrated how NIR spectroscopy coupled with chemometric models can provide real-time insights into traditional and innovative tanning processes, optimise resource consumption, and support sustainability in the leather industry.

Tanning materials in leather production usually use materials that are not environmentally friendly such as chrome. To implement clean production in the leather tanning process, the use of vegetable tanning is starting to be widely studied, one of which is gambier. This research aims to evaluate the influence of various levels of ingredients tanner vegetable (gambier) on the chemical properties of eco-print-tanned sheep leather. The treatment consists of five variations of tanner ingredients (vegetable tanning, gambier) 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30%. The variables measured include fat content, ash content, water content, and tannin content. From the results, the level of gambier as vegetable tanning had a significant effect on fat content instead of ash content and water content. The highest fat content was found in the 30% tanning treatment (18.93 ± 0.7%) while the ash content and water content did not show significant differences between treatments, with average values of 1.82-1.94% and 15.33-18.00%. This research concluded that the utilisation of gambier as a vegetable tanner at various levels affects the fat content of sheep leather, but had no significant effect on the ash content and water content.

The protein modification palmitoylation increases the ability of variant forms of the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) to induce pigmentation, and this is linked to reduced development of melanomas. Induced pigmentation to prevent skin cancer People with red hair, fair skin and poor tanning ability have a higher risk of developing melanoma. They often carry variants of the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R), which has a reduced capacity to induce pigmentation compared with the more common MCR1 forms. Rutao Cui and colleagues show how a modification called protein palmitoylation increases the ability of variant MCR1 to induce pigmentation in mice, and this is linked to reduced melanoma development. These findings may point to strategies for melanoma prevention, although it remains to be seen whether such an approach is practical. The melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R), a G-protein-coupled receptor, has a crucial role in human and mouse pigmentation 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 . Activation of MC1R in melanocytes by α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) 9 stimulates cAMP signalling and melanin production and enhances DNA repair after ultraviolet irradiation 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 . Individuals carrying MC1R variants, especially those associated with red hair colour, fair skin and poor tanning ability (denoted as RHC variants), are associated with higher risk of melanoma 5 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 . However, how MC1R activity is modulated by ultraviolet irradiation, why individuals with red hair are more prone to developing melanoma, and whether the activity of RHC variants might be restored for therapeutic benefit are unknown. Here we demonstrate a potential MC1R-targeted intervention strategy in mice to rescue loss-of-function MC1R in MC1R RHC variants for therapeutic benefit by activating MC1R protein palmitoylation. MC1R palmitoylation, primarily mediated by the protein-acyl transferase ZDHHC13, is essential for activating MC1R signalling, which triggers increased pigmentation, ultraviolet-B-induced G1-like cell cycle arrest and control of senescence and melanomagenesis in vitro and in vivo . Using C57BL/6J- Mc1r e/e J mice, in which endogenous MC1R is prematurely terminated, expressing Mc1r RHC variants, we show that pharmacological activation of palmitoylation rescues the defects of Mc1r RHC variants and prevents melanomagenesis. The results highlight a central role for MC1R palmitoylation in pigmentation and protection against melanoma.