IMHO – correation does not equal causation. You have to do a good statistical anaylysis before anyone can jump to conclusions RE fire retardants causing mel. Then you need to test your hypothesis etc.
Many firefighters are also very active outdoors = sun exposure. We do know that sun exposure is one cause for skin cancers & mel. Much research on that. Even so, genetics / environment etc. also play a role to varying degrees.
Is this above the normal for the population? Maybe yes, maybe no.
Don't jump to conclusions based on personal experience or testimonials. It may be an area to study, but probably doesn't mean a thing in the end. I would be more worried about inhalational chemicals, now that is a toxic stew….
If all people knew about mel was from this site, they would be terrified because we have people here who had "curable" melanomas come back and now they are stage IV. Based on the population on this site, it would seem much higher than what is the norm for that to occur. You see a skewed melanoma population on this site because of the nature of it :). Not to say I am skewy – LOL.
Great work on getting the word out though.
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