Dangers of indoor tanning

Public health educator Jennifer McGohan says indoor tanning is just as dangerous as the alternative.

Don’t let your teen risk their life for their senior ball or vacation, by indoor tanning. Indoor tanning is just as harmful as an outdoor tan. Indoor tanning is designed to give you high levels of exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation in a short time. Would you consider tanning only inches from the sun?

Tanning indoors is not safer than tanning in the sun. Although indoor tanning devices operate on a timer, the exposure to UV radiation can vary based on the age and type of light bulbs. Indoor tanning is particularly dangerous for younger users.

Unfortunately cancers in children often go undiagnosed because doc- tors don’t think to look for skin cancer in young people. There are currently no set guidelines for skin examinations in children.

If you begin indoor tanning during your teenage years or early adulthood, you have a higher risk of getting melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. This may be due to greater use of indoor tanning among those who begin tanning at earlier ages.

A 2016 study by DeAnn Lazovich, Ph.D. of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and colleagues found that among women under the age of 30, those who indoor tanned were six times more likely to have a melanoma diagnosis than non-tanners. Among women between the ages of 30 and 39, indoor tanners were about four times more likely to have a melanoma diagnosis, compared to non-tanners.

A base tan is not a safe tan. A base tan isn’t protection from future damage to your skin from UV exposure. A tan is the body’s immediate response to injury from UV rays. That injury causes damage to your skin, increasing your risk of skin cancer, particularly among young people. But we don’t often think beyond the immediate and toward a future filled with wrinkles, sun spots, leathery skin, cataracts, eye diseases, and skin cancer. That’s what the future may hold from dangerous tanning by our young people.

Talk with your child about the health risks of tanning. The best way to protect your skin from signs of aging and cancer is to avoid UV exposure from tanning.

Don’t let your teen risk their life for a bronzed look for an event or trip, especially when the same tanning effect can come safely from a bottle. Self-tanning creams and sprays have come a long way. Many brands today create a very realistic color and can safely create that bronzed look without the unhealthy side effects.

New York State Public Health Law prohibits persons under 17 years of age from using UV radiation devices. It requires that persons 17 years of age have a parent or legal guardian sign a consent form before using UV radiation devices.

For more information about the effects of dangerous indoor tanning among young people, visit www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/ basic_info/indoor_tanning.htm