As the summer season has drawn to a close and we enter the cooler days of fall, sunshine will become increasingly sparse and tans will start to fade. But for those who are committed to keeping a year round sun-kissed glow, indoor tanning salons offer the perfect solution. And as temperatures drop, visits to such establishments increase.As the summer season has drawn to a close and we enter the cooler days of fall, sunshine will become increasingly sparse and tans will start to fade. But for those who are committed to keeping a year round sun-kissed glow, indoor tanning salons offer the perfect solution. And as temperatures drop, visits to such establishments increase. Yet as a new study finds, and as previous research has already strongly demonstrated, indoor tanning drastically increases the risk of skin cancer, both nonmelanoma and melanoma especially among young adults.
According to a new study from the University of California San Francisco, patients who had ever used a form of indoor tanning had a 67 percent increased risk of basal cell carcinoma and a nearly 30 percent higher risk of squamous cell carcinoma, compared to those who abstain from indoor tanning. That s why it s doubly important to continue to remind folks about the dangers of this practice, writes ACSH s Lana Spivak in a new op-ed.
Twenty eight million Americans still go indoor tanning each year, and those who do before the age of 35 increase their risk of melanoma by a whopping 75 percent. Yet despite these startling statistics, Spivak says, the indoor tanning industry continues to tout the so-called beneficial effects of UV light, a known carcinogen. Instead of banning sugary sodas, public health officials should be implementing stricter age regulations on indoor tanning, which currently only exist in two states.
To read the op-ed in full, click here.
