Tanning Beds
Tanning beds - In July 2009, the cancer research arm of the World Health Organization declared that tanning beds could pose a serious cancer risk. The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer has in fact deemed tanning beds to be carcinogenic, classifying it in the same category as other high cancer hazards. Until this time, tanning beds were considered only likely to cause cancer in human beings. This reclassification of tanning beds comes in the wake of new evidence that shows that the use of such devices can lead to melanoma, which is a deadly type of skin cancer.
These developments are obviously quite significant particularly among young women, an increasing number of who have developed skin cancer in the past few years. As scientists have now begun to realize, the evidence of home tanning beds’ role in skin cancer development is clearly mounting.
What makes all this more alarming is that tanning is still mostly considered healthy by many people, when it is actually a sign that the skin is being damaged. But what is it with tanning beds that actually cause cancer?
Studies have shown that ultraviolet A or UVA, ultraviolet B or UVB, and ultraviolet C or UVC radiation could cause cancer in animal subjects. This contradicts precious claims by the certain manufacturers of tanning beds that such devices are safe since they rely primarily on UVA radiation as opposed to the “dangerous” UVB. Based on these studies, UVA is just as dangerous as UVB or UVC in terms of cancer risk. This means that you are not doing your skin any favors by resorting to tanning beds instead of getting your tan outdoors.
Statistics also show that in the 30 and below age group, both new and used tanning beds have been linked to as much as a 75% increase in skin cancer cases. Another study also showed that from 1973 to 2004, the number of skin cancer cases in young women from the United States registered increases of as much as 200%.
All this is alarming enough, but making it even more so is the increase in cases wherein the melanoma lesions take on a thicker and more life threatening form. This has led scientists to suspect that the increased popularity of home tanning beds may have something to do with this development.
In early 2009, it was reported that the number of skin cancer cases grew by as much as 100% from 1995 until 2004. This growth in the rate of skin cancer dovetails with the development of better skin cancer screening and detection methods, which again may point the finger of blame on the use of commercial and home tanning beds.
Many scientists have stopped short of directly attributing the rise in the number of skin cancer cases to tanning beds, although the evidence against such devices is growing. With more and more people increasing their indoor as well as outdoor UV exposure, it is becoming painfully apparent that the use of tanning beds may pose a significant health risk.
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