1. It's Big Business
Nearly 30 million people in the U.S. tan in tanning salons every year; on average, that's more than 1 million people a day who are baking themselves under tanning lamps. More than 70% of them are Caucasian females aged 16 to 49 years. The indoor tanning industry's revenues have increased fivefold since 1992, to about $5 billion.
2. Our Youth Are At Risk
2.3 million teens visit tanning salons in the U.S. every year. According to a Swedish study, the younger you are when you start indoor tanning, the greater your risk of melanoma. A review of seven studies revealed that your risk of melanoma increases by 75 percent if you're exposed to tanning beds before the age of 35. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for teens to be banned from indoor tanning due to the dangers, only half of the states in the U.S. regulate tanning bed use by teens.
3. It's a Proven Danger
Many studies show that exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light is a definite risk factor for melanoma. Using a tanning bed more than 10 times a year made people seven times more likely to develop malignant melanoma than those who did not use tanning beds as often. The risk of melanoma was increased by 300% for those using tanning beds occasionally and by 800% for those using tanning beds more than 10 times a year. The FDA estimates that about 38,000 people will be diagnosed with melanoma this year in the U.S. and 7,300 people will die from this condition. The United States Department of Health & Human Services names UV radiation from the sun, and from artificial sources such as tanning beds and sun lamps, as a proven carcinogen - a cancer causing substance.
The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advise people to avoid tanning and the use of sun lamps. Both the American Medical Association (ADA) and the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) are fighting to ban the non-medical use of tanning equipment. The CDC report that tanning beds also cause serious eye problems including conjunctivitis, corneal infections and retinal damage.
4. There's no such thing as a "safe tan"
Sunlight contains different wavelengths of UV light. UVA rays penetrate deeper into your skin and cause tanning. UVB rays damage the more superficial skin layers and cause sunburn. Many tanning salons claim that indoor tanning is safe because you are exposed to more tanning UVA rays than burning UVB rays. Medical research disproves this claim. Skin cancer is certainly associated with sunburn from UVB rays, but scientists at the FDA and other respected institutions now have evidence that even moderate tanning due to UVA rays produces the same long-term skin damage as a sunburn, increasing your risk of skin cancer and premature skin aging, and damaging your immune system. UVA rays penetrate deep into your skin, causing significant destruction and loss of skin elasticity. UVA exposure is associated with an increased risk for squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma and melanoma.
