This semester, many Washington University students will hit tanning salons as a quick way to get tan in time for spring break. Think tanning beds are safe? Think again. Recent studies suggest that this quick fix causes more than orange skin and premature wrinkles. It causes skin cancer.
The National Cancer Institute published a study in February 2002 involving 900 people with skin cancer and 550 people without. Those who reported any use of tanning beds were up to 2.5 times more likely to have had skin cancer. Past history of sunburns and sun exposure, in contrast, did not explain these results. Another study published in May 2002 by the American Academy of Dermatology interviewed 30 women who had developed skin cancer before 40, an earlier age than usual. These women had visited tanning salons an average of 150 times, nearly twice as many times as an equal number of women without a history of skin cancer. One hundred and fifty visits don’t sound like so many until you realize that the figure amounts to tanning less than once a month over 15 years.
Fine, you may be thinking. Tanning beds cause cancer. But at least they’re better than being in the sun all day, right? Not so, says Dr. Tsu-Yi Chuang, a professor of dermatology and the medical director of the melanoma program at Indiana University. “These studies indicate that tanning beds can cause skin cancer just as readily as natural sunlight,” he states.
But the really tan guy at the salon said tanning beds are safer! Well, he was probably referring to the fact that tanning beds emit less UVB radiation, which is thought to be more harmful than UVA. I contacted a former employee of a popular tanning salon among WU students who told me that “the sun has 18 percent UVB while some tanning beds provide as little as 6 percent UVB. So, in that sense, tanning beds are significantly better.”
Chuang disagrees. “A lot of salons tell their customers that this is the safe alternative to natural sunlight, but that just isn’t true,” he says. “UVA can be just as harmful as UVB.” The Federal Trade Commission reports that UVA penetrates more deeply than UVB, affecting more layers of skin. It is linked to immune system damage and melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. Most alarming: UVA also thins the skin, making future sun damage more likely. This is bad news for those who hope that tanning beds will give them a “base tan” for spring break. Chuang tells his patients “don’t think using a tanning bed is going to keep you from getting burned in Florida.”
Despite these findings and doctors’ warnings, tanning salons remain ever popular. Currently in the United States, there are between 20,000 and 24,000 tanning salons listed, claiming 22 million clients each year. Thirty-four salons are listed within 10 miles of St. Louis.
Many tanning salons seem professional and their employees appear knowledgeable. However, don’t count on employees to always keep your best interests in mind. My source at the tanning salon admitted that her colleagues would push “accelerating lotion” for commission. According to her, this lotion causes your skin to absorb more UV radiation, causing a slight burn that later becomes a tan. “Those [lotions] are not as good for you,” she stated.
She said that employees would give clients advice on what tanning package to buy, but this was just to “prove their expertise,” not necessarily to endorse the safest package with respect to skin type. She was told to “always promote the biggest package possible.”
Kristen Kiselewich is a WU senior who used to frequent tanning salons-including the one I reference above-on a regular basis. “I would go at least once a week, twice a week in the winter,” she says. “If something important was coming up, like formal or spring break, I might have gone every day for a few days before.”
“I guess it wasn’t that safe,” she admits. “It’s just so hard to think that far in the future.” Kiselewich says one of the reasons she found it hard to stop tanning is because she would get mixed reviews about tanning beds. “I read one thing, and then the next week I heard the opposite. It was hard to decide what to believe.”
Chuang, on the other hand, believes the conclusion is clear: avoid tanning beds. “There is almost no debate among skin cancer specialists that tanning beds can cause cancer,” he says. “The only debate is between doctors and the people who make money from salons.”