Is your teen tanning?
Earlier this week, cancer experts concluded tanning beds are as deadly as arsenic or mustard gas, and said people who begin using the ultraviolet radiation beds before age 30 up their skin cancer risk by 75 percent. After analyzing about 20 studies, scientists moved tanning beds and other forms of ultraviolet radiation from their list of probable carcinogens to the top risk category of “definite causes of cancer.”
When I was a teenager, several of my friends regularly used tanning beds to jump-start or extend tans they achieved from lying out in the summer sun. My skin is so fair that I simply burn and peel without zinc oxide or a minimum of SPF 50. Any color I may have is simply the explosion of freckles brought out by the sun. Like an impressionist painting, I may appear a little darker from a distance, but up close, my “tan” is really just a bunch of dots. Even so, I remember being tempted to try to get a deep tan like my friends.
I never did use a tanning bed back in the late 80s, and I also just assumed the number of tanning bed users had waned as the market of self-tan creams and bronzers grew. However, the scientists found that doctors are diagnosing more and more young people with skin cancer as the number of people under 30 using the beds has grown.
“In Britain, melanoma, the deadliest kind of skin cancer, is now the leading cancer diagnosed in women in their 20s,” the article states. “Normally, skin cancer rates are highest in people over 75.”
My children suffer the same fair skin I do, so they have never known a life without copious amounts of sun block. They are not teens either, and have never really expressed an interest in getting a tan. I don’t know if their attitude toward tanning will change in a few years – even though their ability to do anything but burn won’t change.
Are your teens tanning? Have they ever asked to use a tanning bed? Did you – or do you now – use a tanning bed? Given that tanning and tanning beds have long been listed as “probable carcinogens”, do you think the latest designation as “definite cause of cancer” will change anyone’s mind about using a tanning bed or getting a natural savage tan? Do you think the new label will affect your teen or young adult’s decision to use one?
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61 comments Add your comment
Becky
August 3rd, 2009
7:53 am
JATL, I agree with that wholeheartly..
Joe
August 3rd, 2009
8:54 am
On Wednesday, the International Agency for Research on Cancer issued a proclamation that classifies UV-emitting tanning devices as “carcinogenic to humans”. It was the conclusion of a working Group that was convened by the IARC Monographs program. Most major news sources covered the issue as if it were something similar to North Korea’s nuclear program—typical on slow summer news days.
Many salons were interviewed as well as dermatologists to give their reactions.
As I watched and read the many comments, I was thrilled to see that the level of information at the fingertips of our salons has increased. I’ve spoken with many salons that had the chance to issue their own release, go on camera or get interviewed by their local paper. In a strange way, it showed me the determination by our industry on setting the record straight. I also had to grin when one report featured a dermatologist from North Carolina claiming that regarding the report,
” we’ve been advocating that tanning salons be regulated for quite some time”. North Carolina, as many of you know, has had indoor tanning regulations for quite some and arguably some of the most stringent regulations in the US! Don’t forget that the FDA has also regulated indoor tanning since 1980.
Now, here are the facts:
Overexposure to UV is harmful. This is not news! In 1992, UV energy from the sun was also classified as carcinogenic, yet our children still play baseball, play tennis, hike, swim, ski, in the great outdoors. This is the same sun that humans have basked in since creation. As salon professionals, we have consistently explained to the public that overexposure to UV is not good for you. For those that weigh the benefits and risks of UV, millions chose indoor tanning where UV is provided in moderation and responsibility by skin type and a timer. The sun has no such controls.
The report that put UV from tanning beds on the same level as such toxins as arsenic cigarettes and mustard gas has been tremendously over-hyped. Red wine, salted fish and natural sunlight are also on this list. We have seen this same type of frenzy before. Research suggests that indoor tanning produces vitamin D, that although the FDA forbids our industry from making medical claims, we know exists. Research also points out that endorphins-the same feel good hormone that many runners obtain-are also produced. Yet the media proclaims that endorphin production makes people “tanorexic” and links it to heroin addiction-yet runners are never paralleled as dope addicts!
About the research used: This proclamation by IARC on indoor tanning claims that it was the result of 20 different research reports. In the upcoming weeks, you will begin to see an investigation of these reports from many different indoor tanning industry sources that will illustrate the flaws found in much of this research. I’ll give you a couple upfront: the infamous “Westerdahl study”, an almost 25 year old report in which questionnaires were sent to various folks in Sweden (which has among the highest rates of skin cancer in the world) and asked them about their history of exposure to UV. Not done in a clinical setting, many of the respondents recollected using tanning devices prior to 1980-which at that time were almost 100% UVB-not modern indoor tanning systems. Another report used tanning beds and welding to draw a conclusion on the relationship of eye damage from radiation. Please note that most of the research that has been published on skin cancer has been done in areas of the world where skin cancer rates are extremely high such as Australia and Scandinavia.
The Indoor Tanning Association also has run a reply in the NY Times this week –visit http://www.theita.com for the response.
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August 3rd, 2009
2:32 pm
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JZ
August 4th, 2009
11:32 am
SCARY PRESS RELEASE. What really needs to be said is that sunlight has lots of health benefits like Vitamin D etc. Most people feel better having been in the sun for a short time.
The cases of skin cancer pale in comparison to things like smoking and a myriad of other “bad” things for you. Smoking kills hundreds of thousands per year. Skin cancer less than 10k and most if not all those cases were either from the older generation where moderation was not used OR simply failed to react to a skin issue. This takes years to develop into a harmful thing. I have first hand experience. I had some areas removed and they were not were any sunlight got to them.
This is very unclear science at best.
TeenDad
August 11th, 2009
8:52 pm
I’m now 19 and experiencing being a dad. I must say although it feels good it’s still hard. I knew it wouldn’t be easy but to be honest, the hard part is having to balance time. My daughter is great and makes managing her never dreadful. -Teen dad
Bird
August 12th, 2009
11:36 am
Going in the natural sun does not cut the risk of skin cancer. There are risks of skin cancer with tanning beds but the risk is higher with the natural sun. I was told by a doctor to use tanning beds. I almost died from a heat stroke from the natural sun. It does not take hours in the sun to do it to me either. I am suppose to start tanning sessions about two weeks before summer gets here to get me used to the rays, it does work. I have not had a heat stroke sense, and that has been over 17 years. If going to a tanning salon (I don’t worry about that now, I bought a used commercial bed from a private owner for less than a home model) you have to check out the salon before buying a membership!! Check to make sure they take proper care of their beds. Do they have a lot of customers (word gets out, good customers go to good service) and do they clean the beds right away and clean them well? How often do they change their bulbs? Are they willing to take time to answer your questions? Do they ask you questions when it is your first time there? CHECK THESE PLACES OUT, some are gross. I went to one, there was no refund, I paid the $4 for only one visit because I was never there before, and it looked clean from the lobby area. The bed was gross. I walked out and took the $4 for a loss. You can get eye infections from that place, I have been so careful sense, but now that I have my own I know it is cleaned after every use. Only me and our kids (all grown up and have kids of their own) use it. I use common sense, don’t push it, start slow, moisturize, don’t tan for at least one hour after showering, don’t shower for at least two hours after tanning, use good lotions and it is good to wear eye protection that is for tanning beds. If not your eyes can be burned and you will have severe dry eye, possibly. I did not tan well in the regular sun. I have a really good tan from using the tanning bed. Everyone is different, tanning beds work for me and I can enjoy my summer without feeling sick.
Bird
August 12th, 2009
11:42 am
I forgot, unless you are an experienced tanner with a good tan, do not use lotions with a tingle factor. I have been tanning for over 17 years, I have dark tan, if I use a tingle factor over no 7, I feel just like I did when I had sun stroke. It is not for everyone.
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Raygn
August 14th, 2009
5:40 pm
Okay, So i tan maybe like 4 times a week, And ive been tanning for a year. I have no sign of skin cancer or anything other cancer. The worst thing i had was a case of itching my skin like crazy. Because i got burnt. I don’t think you can get cancer from tanning if you just do it a couple times. I have no moles or anything, I don’t smoke either. So for all the pasty people out there, Don’t brag about being white and loving it and bagging on people who do tan! Cause really if you haven’t tried it, You have no word. :)
But anyways, I love tanning i tan really easy and my skin is like light caramel, Thank god. But i don’t think you should criticize people who tan. It’s their life and we all know the facts, Were the one’s taking the risks.