Tanning Salon Association Says Skin Cancer Risk Is Overblown
One member says the risk of skin cancer in professional tanning salons is “statistically insignificant.”
Defying countless warnings from the FDA, dermatologists, and the World Health Organization, a group of tanning salon owners are banding together to try and convince the public that indoor tanning at professional salons is far safer than experts make it out to be. The American Suntanning Association, which was announced this week, wants to “factually dispel [the] myths” that tanning salons are dangerous and cancer-causing.
That’ll be tough: both the FDA and the the World Health Organization now classify indoor tanning as “carcinogenic to humans.”
Doug McNabb, a board member of the newly-formed association, argues that the World Health Organization’s numbers — which has said indoor tanning could increase skin cancer risk by 75% — are skewed to discredit professional tanning salons. He cites a presentation (unpublished) shown at a conference, which he says shows that the cancer risk is far higher with at-home tanning beds and with phototherapy machines at doctor’s offices used to treat psoriasis, which he says make the professional salons look bad. He argues that the risk of skin cancer in professional tanning salons is “statistically insignificant.” Unsurprisingly, McNabb owns a chain of tanning salons. They are called “Fabutan.”
For the record: the American Suntanning Association is anti-Tan Mom. McNabb also believes her skin color wasn’t merely the work of a tanning bed. “She was using high levels of bronzing makeup.”
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- introvert thinks Tanning Salon Association Says Skin C... is Fail
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rhodric 4 months agoHere in Australia people still have this ridiculously outdated notion that having a tan is healthy. Thankfully sunbeds are being banned and solariums being phased out. According to the Australian Government, Australia has the highest rate of melanoma in the world with 2 in 3 Australian’s diagnosed before they’re 70. We don’t need to add to that by promoting the lie that tanning is in any way healthy or attractive. This is a media issue as much as it is a government one.
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shellydejaynesl 4 months agoAs a new tanner myself — someone whose vitamin D blood level went up from 11 ng/ml to 75 ng/ml with regular, non-burning tanning visits earlier this year, and who now can exercise without severe muscle pain for the first time in my life – I think you should read this view of the 75 percent number, from Dr. Ivan Oransky, editor of Reuters Health: http://healthjournalism.org/blog/2010/05/tanning-beds-what-do-the-numbers-really-mean/ Since over-using sunscreen and avoiding the sun CAUSED my vitamin D deficiency for most of my life, I can’t help but think it’s weird that most journalists are missing the point. Regular sun is natural. We don’t get it anymore because we spend most of our days inside. Having checked myself, it doesn’t look to me like any of these so-called studies actually study non-burning sun exposure or professional sunbed usage. Just seems to me like burning – not tanning – is the problem. And if sunbeds were so dangerous, why do dermatologists use them to treat cosmetic skin conditions like psoriasis that don’t hurt anyone?
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isabels5 4 months agoTo stop people from tanning they should focus on the premature aging side of it, not the melanoma. I live in a place with the highest skin cancer rate in the world where sun bed have just been banned. No one thinks they will get cancer but people vain and foolish enough to use a sunbed are very afraid of looking ugly.
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joel21 4 months agoHere is what is meant by “higher level conversation” — the actual data that WHO used to publish the “75 percent increased risk” figure in this story came from a meta-analysis of 688 subjects — 344 of whom used sunbeds in professional salons, 327 of whom used unmonitored home sunbeds and 27 of whom used dermatology phototherapy sunbeds (the same equipment used in doctors offices to treat psoriasis). Analyzed by category, the dermatology phototherapy sunbeds increased risk 96 percent. The unmonitored home units increased risk 40 percent. And the salon sunbeds only accounted for a 6 percent increase — and that included European data with Skin Type I subjects — people with skin so fair that we do not tan them in North American tanning salons. It’s not the tanning industry’s data. It’s the actual data in the WHO study. “Higher-level conversation” means understanding that the science about UV light from any source supports a balanced message — that there are risks to overexposure, but that “sun scare” overstatements are keeping the public from getting the whole picture.
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- kylee3 thinks Tanning Salon Association Says Skin C... is Fail
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tobyyoung63 4 months agoIn other news, Tobacco association says smokings not really that bad and booze manufacturers reckon drink driving and cirrhosis of the liver are just media panics. Come on, the science folks without an agenda have already answered there ones surely?
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- NoraVH thinks New Association Of Tanning Salon Owne... is Fail & WTF
- MoniMoLove thinks New Association Of Tanning Salon Owne... is Ew
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