Agency labels tanning beds 'definitely carcinogenic'

[moon]

I'm very pale, with blue-green eyes. Thankfully the comments I get frtom time to time "Get some color!" haven't pushed me to think I *need* a tan, and I avoild it like the plague. A fashion trend is not woth the risk

http://www.democraticunderground.com...ss=389x6180854



Agency labels tanning beds 'definitely carcinogenic'
By Sonja Ryst

Inquirer Staff Writer

Lynda Charles learned the hard way.

The Lancaster County resident first used a tanning bed before her wedding in 1986 and then continued each summer. About three years ago, a mark on her leg, which she noticed had darkened, was diagnosed as potentially fatal melanoma.

Though her dermatologist cut out the cancerous spot, leaving a 4.5-inch scar, another spot was removed about a year ago - and Charles worries about getting more. She has not used a tanning bed since then and tries to avoid exposure to the sun.

"I'm the only one that goes to Aruba and comes back looking like she wasn't in Aruba," she said.

Charles' experience is just the type that prompted an increased warning yesterday by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The unit of the World Health Organization put tanning beds on its list of agents labeled "definitely carcinogenic." The list already includes salted fish, alcoholic drinks, and tobacco.

Tanning beds had been on the agency's "probably carcinogenic" list.

"Sunbeds use ultraviolet radiation in higher intensity than sunlight," said the agency's Vincent Cogliano, who co-authored a report on radiation risks in the August issue of The Lancet Oncology, a medical journal.

The report said that using tanning devices before age 30 increases skin melanoma risk 75 percent. Indoor tanning is widespread in Northern Europe and North America, particularly among women and young people, the report said.

"Because tanning beds produce the same UV light as the sun, overexposure and abuse of our product - just like overexposure to sunlight - is associated with an increased risk for some types of skin cancer," John Overstreet, executive director of the Indoor Tanning Association, said in an e-mail yesterday.

Dennis McShay, 46, the owner and operator of Tropical Rays in Haddon Heights, Camden County, said he had age spots from fishing shirtless.

When he saw a doctor about his spots, he learned they are not cancerous but was warned to be careful about exposure to the sun. His grandfather had melanoma.

McShay said he continued to use his tanning beds himself.

"Twice a week is better here than going outside every day," he said. "The medical field and the tanning industry should work together."

[freckles and boo]

Unfortunately all I can say is "duh". I feel bad for people who honestly believed they were safe. I wouldn't wish cancer on anyone.

[DisneyBamaFan]

LOL - Thanks?

[moon]

Originally Posted by freckles and boo

Unfortunately all I can say is "duh". I feel bad for people who honestly believed they were safe. I wouldn't wish cancer on anyone.

Me neither. I just heard of a guy who worked in a tanning salon. He was instructed to tell the clients that tanning beds were safe because they only put out UB-A radiation, not the more harmful UV-B and UV-C waves. Then he was to provide them with opaque eye protection because the UV would harm the eye. He was like

It may be too late for some people who feel they can't be without a tan, but hopefully young children can be taught that they are beautiful the way they are, or at least that no fashion trend is worth risking getting a disease as horrific as Cancer.

[MarkBarbieri]

Originally Posted by freckles and boo

Unfortunately all I can say is "duh". I feel bad for people who honestly believed they were safe. I wouldn't wish cancer on anyone.

I agree completely - both with the "duh" and the sympathy.

[FireDancer]

OK, this is a bit of a simplification of the cancerous side effects of tanning beds. I will start this by saying I do not use a tanning bed and don't feel like I need to, but the cancer effects of them are often mis-stated.

Over exposure to the UV rays from a tanning bed, just like the sun, can cause cancer. Moderation is key.

A tanning bed with an electronic ballast as opposed to a magnetic ballast will drastically cut down on the EMF rays that contribute to cancer along with the UV rays.

if you don't get enough sun for yoru body to produce a healthy amount of Vitamin D a tanning bed can actually make you healthier, but sitting in them for the vanity of getting darker skin usually causes you to over use them.

In moderation many things that can be unhealthy are healthy. For example, you need salt and fat, but don't need an over abundance of either.

[Handbag Lady]

Two words:


Spray tans.

[moon]

Originally Posted by FireDancer

if you don't get enough sun for yoru body to produce a healthy amount of Vitamin D a tanning bed can actually make you healthier

That's the sun. I've yet to see any evidence that tanning beds provide vitamin D. Do they provide vitamin D?

but sitting in them for the vanity of getting darker skin usually causes you to over use them.

And that's the problem. The great majority of people do use tanning beds, well, to tan. There's not such thing as a "healthy tan", since a tan is the response of the skin when is damaged by too much UV exposure.

It's said that the body needs no more than about 15 minutes of sun exposure early in the morning or (preferably) late in the afternoon to get the needed vitamin D. Tanning beds typically provide 8 hours of sun exposure in 15 minutes. Anybody who has the time for a tanning bed could spend 15 minutes under the natural, late afternoon sun to get their vitamin D. But that won't give them the look they are going for, hence the use of the tanning bed, to get maximum "sun" exposure in the shortest amount of time.

[C.Ann]

If the cancer risk isn't enough to make people stop using these tanning salons, maybe a face that is so wrinkled by the time these people are in their forties they could go around haunting houses might do the trick..

Nice tan, leathery-feeling wrinkled skin.. No thanks..

[Sheree Bobbins]

I hope more agencies jump on the band wagon and expose these tanning beds for the danger they are.

[JR6ooo4]

Originally Posted by Sheree Bobbins

I hope more agencies jump on the band wagon and expose these tanning beds for the danger they are.

Ya! and ice cream... If I ate ice cream for as long as some people tan, I would probably die sooner than the tanners.

Mikeeee

[sbell111]

Tanning beds are bad for you??? No way!!!

Next they are going to try to tell us that smoking causes cancer.

[C.Ann]

Originally Posted by sbell111

Tanning beds are bad for you??? No way!!!

Next they are going to try to tell us that smoking causes cancer.

Yeah - can ya believe it?

I look at it this way.. If people are going to use tanning beds, why not smoke too? Cancer is cancer - the only problem is, in most cases skin cancer will kill you much, much quicker than the smoking-related cancers.. Not a lot of "lingering" - right to the point.. Most people I have known with skin cancer were dead in less than 8 months..

What are they going to tell us next - you can destroy your liver with alcohol??

[MoniqueU]

Well 20 years ago I thought I was doing the right thing by working up a tan in a bed rather then going to the beach and getting burnt all at one time. My DH had the same attitude. Tanning in teens doesn't seem as popular now as when I was that age. My 12 year old and 16 year old wear sunscreen in the sun when at that age I used baby oil. MY DD 12 acted like I said I shot up heroin when she asked me what baby oil was for and I told her I wasnt sure other then I used to tan with it.

[moon]

Originally Posted by MoniqueU

Well 20 years ago I thought I was doing the right thing by working up a tan in a bed rather then going to the beach and getting burnt all at one time. My DH had the same attitude. Tanning in teens doesn't seem as popular now as when I was that age. My 12 year old and 16 year old wear sunscreen in the sun when at that age I used baby oil. MY DD 12 acted like I said I shot up heroin when she asked me what baby oil was for and I told her I wasnt sure other then I used to tan with it.

You have very smart kids!

I hope they are the rule rather than the exception in their age group. If they keep it up, they will not only be healthier, but look beautiful with youthful looking skin well into their 40s and beyond