Tanning Salon Regulations Gather Steam

With skin cancer rates skyrocketing, 21 states have introduced legislation this year that would newly restrict the indoor tanning industry or strengthen existing laws, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. Twenty-nine states already have laws on the books regulating tanning by minors.

Since 2005, the World Health Organization has recommended that no one under the age of 18 should use tanning beds, because overexposure to broad-spectrum ultraviolet radiation could lead to basal cell or squamous cell skin cancers and more dangerous melanomas. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has also declared UV radiation from the sun or from artificial sources such as tanning beds to be a known carcinogen.

Predictably, the indoor tanning industry says tanning beds are safe and warnings about the dangers of limited exposure to sunlight or UV radiation are exaggerated. The AAD disagrees: they say tanning is a risky behavior and studies have shown that those who use tanning beds before age 35 have a significantly increased risk of developing melanoma.

The bottom line is that tanning is the skin's response to injury from UV ray exposure, which is proven to lead to DNA damage. Experts agree that there is no such things as a safe tan. Everybody, especially young adults and children, should put a priority on their health over vanity and avoid tanning salons.