Spring Break is just around the corner and as winter weary students plan to head to the beach, the indoor tanning business is heating up. So is the national debate over the use of sunlamps and tanning beds.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and some members of Congress are pushing for new tougher regulations to keep tanning salon patrons—particularly young women—safe from the harmful effects of UV rays.
U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) has sponsored H.R. 4520, known as The Tanning Bed Cancer Control Act to expand federal regulation of indoor tanning. If passed, the bill would limit the amount of harmful UV radiation emitted by tanning beds and the time consumers may be exposed to it.
The bill is in its infant stage right now, but it calls attention to a growing problem plaguing American society.
Skin cancer rates in the United States have reached epidemic proportions, according to the American Academy of Dermatology Association. Each year, there are more than one million new cases of skin cancer diagnosed, and at current rate, one in five Americans will develop skin cancer at some point in their life. Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is now the second most common cancer in women ages 20-29.
“Tanning beds are the cigarettes of our time: cancer-causing and poorly regulated,” said Rep. Maloney. “Those who use start using tanning beds before the age of 30 have a 75 percent higher risk of developing melanoma. Every hour, one American dies of this disease. Through education and improved regulation, we can save lives.”
Last summer, The World Health Organization’s cancer division reclassified tanning beds as definitive cancer-causers, right alongside the ultraviolet radiation that they and natural sunshine emit. They'd long been considered "probable" carcinogens, but what tipped the scale was a FDA analysis of numerous studies that concluded the risk of melanoma jumps by 75 percent in people who used tanning beds in their teens and 20s.
“Although some people think that a tan gives them a ‘healthy’ glow, any tan is a sign of skin damage,” says Sharon Miller, M.S.E.E., a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientist and international expert on UV radiation and tanning. Over time UV exposure darkens the skin as a “self-defense mechanism” by producing more melanin, which leads to prematurely aged skin, and in some cases, skin cancer.
Advocates of tanning devices argue that artificially produced tans are less dangerous than natural sun tanning because the intensity of UV radiation and time spent is already controlled. But Miller says there is no evidence to support these claims. “In fact, sunlamps may be more dangerous than the sun because they can be used at the same high intensity every day of the year—unlike the sun whose intensity varies with the time of day, the season, and cloud cover.”
Melanoma skin cancer and premature skin damage are not the only hazards from baking your skin. Other known risks include immune suppression that can leave you more vulnerable to diseases,including skin cancer, as well as irreversible eye damage, and allergic reactions.
The FDA is particularly concerned about children and teens being exposed to UV rays. Intermittent exposures to intense UV radiation leading to sunburns, especially in childhood and teen years, increase the risk of melanoma, according to National Cancer Institute (NCI).
William D. James, MD, FAAD and President, American Academy of Dermatology Association says FDA action on this issue and the support of Congressional members “are critically important to create appropriate safeguards for consumers that will protect our young people from dangerous exposure to the carcinogenic ultraviolet rays found in tanning beds.”
The FDA plans to hold a public hearing March 25, 2010 to review the growing body of scientific literature linking UV radiation and skin cancer. The agency is considering stricter regulations, including limits on UV exposure from sun lamps and stronger warning labels.
“Young people may not think they are vulnerable to skin cancer,” says Ron Kaczmarek, M.D., M.P.H., and an FDA epidemiologist. “They have difficulty thinking about their own mortality, but the scientific evidence is clear. There is an incredible increased risk of developing skin cancer as a result of UV exposure from tanning bed and sunlamps.”
Lynette Summerill, is an award-winning journalist who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. In addition to writing about cancer-related issues, she writes a blog, Nonsmoking Nation, which follows global tobacco news and events