The Dangers of Salon
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| Using salon tanning beds has now been determined a significant Cancer hazard, according to new studies by a leading global Cancer research group. The WHO (World Health Organization) announced on July 28th, 2009, that tanning beds are indeed carcinogenic to humans. |
In fact, international cancer experts have moved tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation into the top cancer risk category, deeming them as deadly as arsenic and mustard gas.
Society has stigmatized a nice golden tan as being a sign of good health, when in reality it is a sign of skin damage. UV rays from any source significantly increase your risk of developing dangerous Carcinoma’s. A dramatic rise in melanoma, especially among young women, has been seen in recent years. This new data can be directly attributed to the upswing of young women using tanning beds!
Salon Tanning Beds - Dangerous to Your Health
In a 1996 survey, a large portion of people using tanning beds were college-age women, but about 30% of tanning bed users are now composed of men. The percentages are expected to increase since tanning salons are now are built separately from hair and beauty salons. Young women are however, the heaviest users of salon tanning beds and run the greatest risk of causing harm to themselves.
The risk of skin cancer jumps by 75% when people use salon tanning beds before age 30. Experts also found that all types of ultraviolet radiation caused mutations in mice, which is proof that radiation is carcinogenic. Previously, only one type of ultraviolet radiation was thought to be lethal.
Most of the lights used in salon tanning beds give off mainly ultraviolet radiation, which cause skin and eye cancer, according to the International Agency for Cancer Research. Tanning beds can cause Cancer, alongside tobacco, Hepatitis B, and chimney sweeping.
Younger people using salon tanning beds are eight times more likely to get melanoma than people who have never used them. The use of tanning beds has increased among people under 30 and doctors have also seen a parallel rise in the numbers of young people with skin Cancer. In Britain, melanoma (the deadliest kind of skin cancer) is now the leading cancer diagnosis in women in their 20s. In previous years, skin cancer rates were highest among people over 75. The World Health Organization has warned people younger than 18 to stay away from them.
UV radiation is not healthy, whether it comes from salon tanning beds or from the sun. The American Cancer Society advises people to try bronzers or sunless tanning lotions instead of using salon tanning beds. Over the past decade, there has been an abundance of evidence that salon tanning beds have played a role in the rise in Cancer, along with direct sun exposure. Ultraviolet A (UVA), ultraviolet B (UVB) and ultraviolet C (UVC) radiation can all cause cancer and dangerous to your health.
This is significant because the indoor tanning industry has often claimed that salon tanning beds are safe because the bulbs have more UVA radiation than UVB. The report puts to rest the argument that tanning with UVA light is safe. UVA light is also a class I carcinogen and should be avoided.
| If you have a hard time remembering UV radiation damage, here is a simple formula: A separate study reported last July by researchers from the National Institute of Health found that melanoma rates among young women in the United States tripled between 1973 and 2004. Beginning in the early 1990s, a particularly dramatic increase has been seen in thicker and more lethal melanoma lesions, leading researchers to conclude that tanning has probably played a significant role in the increase. Early this year, researchers from the Northern California Cancer Center reported that melanoma cases doubled in the U.S. between the mid 1990s and 2004. The researchers concluded that the increase could not be explained by better screening and earlier detection of the cancer. In 2008, about 62,000 new cases of melanoma were diagnosed in the U.S. and about 8,000 people died of the disease, according to the ACS. |
Salon Tanning Industry Responds
Last September, International Tanning Association (ITA) Executive Director John Overstreet stated that a report by leading researchers in the fields of melanoma research, dermatology, and cell biology calling for greater regulation of indoor tanning included 'irresponsible assertions without providing any concrete link between indoor tanning and melanoma.'
In the spring of 2008, the ITA launched a nationwide campaign questioning this link. In a news release issued at the time, ITA spokeswoman Sarah Longwell said, 'Both the sun and tanning beds have been unnecessarily demonized by special interests using junk science and scare tactics.'
But in a news release issued today, ITA President Dan Humiston acknowledged that UV exposure from tanning beds is not discernibly different from UV exposure from the sun.
'The fact that the IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) has put tanning bed use in the same category as sunlight is hardly newsworthy,' he noted. 'The UV light from a tanning bed is equivalent to UV light from the sun, which has had a (carcinogenic) classification since 1992. Some other items in this category are red wine, beer, and salted fish. The ITA has always emphasized the importance of moderation when it comes to UV light from either the sun or a tanning bed.'
The International Agency for Research on Cancer on Tuesday moved tanning beds to its highest cancer risk category: 'carcinogenic to humans,'.
Previously the agency had classified sunlamps and tanning beds as 'probably' carcinogenic, so the move puts the devices a notch higher in terms of risk. It also echoes calls by some U.S. experts to place tougher warnings and restrictions on tanning bed use.
'The use of tanning beds can be deleterious to your health and we hope to encourage governments to formulate restrictions and regulations for the use of salon tanning beds,' said report coauthor Beatrice Secretan, from the Cancer Monograph Working Group at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France. The Agency is part of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The first priority of the WHO is to restrict the use of tanning beds by those under 18, Secretan said. 'If controls are put in place it will reduce the risks of the users or deter people from using them,' she said.
One U.S. expert agreed. 'This new report confirms and extends the prior recommendation of the American Cancer Society that the use of tanning beds is dangerous to your health, and should be avoided,' said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society.
Regulations of Salon Tanning Beds
Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) each regulate tanning beds and sunlamps. The FDA regulates labeling of the devices and the FTC regulates advertising claims about the devices.
The FDA currently requires tanning salons to direct all customers to wear protective eye goggles and advises consumers to limit their exposure to tanning devices, and avoid them if you have certain medical conditions such as lupus or diabetes or are susceptible to cold sores.
In addition, the FDA requires labels on these devices that warn of skin aging, skin cancer, and eye injury. In 2007 the FDA began a review of these warnings and is now considering strengthening its warnings about the risk of skin cancer and eye damage, according to the agency.
Another expert, Dr. Jeffrey C. Salomon, an assistant clinical professor of plastic surgery at Yale University School of Medicine, believes the time has come for the FDA to restrict the use of tanning beds and to issue stronger warnings of their dangers.
'It's hard to raise the level of concern regarding the use of tanning beds any higher with what is being reported as a 75 percent increase in the risk of melanoma when tanning beds are used before the age of 30," Salomon reasoned. "Tanning beds now reside in the highest category of potential cancer risk, carcinogenic to humans. Legislation to restrict tanning bed use by minors and a requirement for a black box warning to consumers is now necessary,' he said.
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