Tanning beds vs Natural Sunshine

It's no secret that tanning beds are bad for you but do you really understand the reasons why?

When you use indoor tanning, the UV rays penetrate much deeper then those of the sun and with that, set you up for pre-mature ageing. The UV ray is penetrating to a cellular level and manipulating the DNA of the cell causing collagen and elastin breakdown. Also when you are in tanning booths you don't wear any sort of protection on your skin, in fact, people typically use accelerators thus doing far more damage then necessary. At least in Vancouver, when we have sunshine (all 2 months of the year) we protect our selves with appropriate sunscreens.

The most frightening thing to think about is we don't know the long term effects of indoor tanning. Here are some interesting statistics: http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/skin-cancer-facts

INDOOR TANNING

• Those who make just four visits to a tanning salon per year can increase their risk for melanoma by 11 percent, and their risk for basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma by 15 percent.⁵⁷
• Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is a proven human carcinogen.³³ Currently tanning beds are regulated by the FDA as Class I medical devices, the same designation given elastic bandages and tongue depressors.³⁴
• The International Agency for Research on Cancer, an affiliate of the World Health Organization, includes ultraviolet (UV) tanning devices in its Group 1, a list of the most dangerous cancer-causing substances.³⁵ Group 1 also includes agents such as plutonium, cigarettes, and solar UV radiation.³⁶
• Frequent tanners using new high-pressure sunlamps may receive as much as 12 times the annual UVA dose compared to the dose they receive from sun exposure.³⁷
• Ten minutes in a sunbed matches the cancer-causing effects of 10 minutes in the Mediterranean summer sun.³⁸
• Nearly 30 million people tan indoors in the U.S. every year³⁹; 2.3 million of them are teens.⁴⁰
• On an average day, more than one million Americans use tanning salons.⁴¹
• Seventy-one percent of tanning salon patrons are girls and women aged 16-29.⁴²
• Indoor ultraviolet (UV) tanners are 74 percent more likely to develop melanoma than those who have never tanned indoors.⁴³
• People who use tanning beds are 2.5 times more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma and 1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma.

Tanning beds are relatively new as they were only introduced in 1979 so I can only imagine what we are going to find with the generations to come in terms of effects on our health. The 'warning signs' of overexposure, such as a sunburn, do not appear at the same rate indoors as out because indoor tanning beds emit mostly UVA (age) rays. The radiation levels are more intense then those of the sun and require individuals to limit their exposure in tanning beds to brief periods.

The BC government has implemented new rules to regulate tanning bed use by young people. You must be 18 years of age or have parental consent to use a tanning bed now and photo ID is required each visit, just as you would get ID'd in a liquor store. When your are looking for signs of skin cancer, you want to watch for the A, B, C, D's...

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