According to the (FDA) any type of a tan is considered to be skin damage. The skin produces melanin when it is exposed to UV for any significant amount of time. [include file=ad1.txt]This in turn darkens the skin and that is what a tan basically is. UVA rays penetrate the top layer of your skin and UVB rays penetrate deeper layers of skin. Both of these have been confirmed to cause skin damage which it turns leads to skin cancer and aging, toughening, wrinkling of the skin. Most all tanning salons use tanning lamps that emit both UVA and UVB rays.
The National Cancer Institute states that the use of tanning beds and sun bathing increases the risk of skin cancer. One study claims that females who use tanning beds more than once a month are 55% more like to develop melanoma cancer. This is definitely a startling statistic for anyone who uses a tanning salon or has a tanning bed at their home. This is such a risky behavior that I really think everyone who enjoys tanning so much needs to look at alternative ways to get a tan, such as spray tanning.
The UV rays that we are exposed to when using tanning beds are 3 times stronger that those from natural sunlight. There are more than 30 million women who attend tanning salons regularly every year. So, if you take that 55% of them are likely to develop melanoma that is a scary thought for all those involved.
Recent research was published in the July 29, 2009 issue of “The Lancet Oncology”. The review concludes that tanning beds increase the risk of deadly melanoma skin cancer by 75 percent for people who begin using them before age 30. Another startling statistic, it just does not make since for anyone especially our young people to be doing this to themselves and the worst part is that most of them do not even realize it.
I think that most people who research and are concerned with the problems that tanning causes especially when out young people get started so early, is that tanning like smoking is just plain bad for our health. It is similir to smoking also it that we do not realize the bad damage it does until it is to late to prevent it. Prevention has to be the key to reverse this trend, plus some help from the main media and Hollywood would help us to know and understand other alternatives to getting a tan. Plus, we are fine without one.