Malignant melanoma rates in New Zealand have risen 90% among the Maoris in New Zealand in the past 11 years, according to an Otago University study. Part of the reason is because there is so much intermarriage in NZ, resulting in a lot of people who are lighter-skinned than previously who are claiming Maori ancestry; and also an increase in ultraviolet penetration due to a thinning ozone layer. Absolute rates of melanoma in Maoris have risen 30.9% to 34.6% per 100,000 for the general population over that period, and from 2.3% to 4.3% per 100,000 for Maoris. In the US, cancer researchers have also found increasing rates of melanoma among non-European groups.
