Tanning Bed Cancer Risk Elevated to Highest Level: Study

According to a new study by the World Health Organization (WHO), the risk of cancer from tanning beds has been placed in the top category for cancer risks, joining cigarettes, asbestos, nuclear fallout and other known carcinogens.

The report, published online today in the medical journal Lancet Oncology , involved an analysis of 20 different studies conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part of WHO. Experts concluded that using tanning beds before the age of 30 increases the risk of skin cancer by 75%.

The study’s results have led the agency to reclassify ultraviolet radiation from tanning beds and other sources as a definite carcinogen. Previously, radiation from sunbeds was only listed as a “probable” source of radiation. The new classification was determined last month by a panel of 20 international scientists.

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Sunbed cancer is often pointed to as the cause of abnormally high rates of cancer in Scotland and Britain afflicting young women in their 20s. Both countries have some of the highest rates for both tanning bed use and skin cancer in young people.

Tanning bed and sunlamp advocates have long held that the beds use a different form or ultraviolet light, UV-A, than the sun, which gives off UV-B. But WHO scientists say the findings debunk the theory that one type of ultraviolet radiation is safer than another.

Some studies have shown that the use of tanning beds by young adults results in eight times the risk of developing melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer once found mainly in the elderly, but which has increasingly become a problem for younger adults. The new study also links UV radiation to ocular melanoma, a form of eye cancer.

The new study is fueling a long-running debate in the U.K. over the regulation of tanning beds. Cancer experts and health officials are urging the government to enact restrictions on tanning salons preventing their use by children under the age of 18, and are asking for new regulations to ensure proper staff training, levels of emitted UV radiation and tanning bed maintenance.

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5 Comments

  • JordisJanuary 21, 2010 at 8:08 pm

    If you or loved one has been on the treatment side of melanoma, you would never get in another tanning bed agian!! If you think being "light colored" is ugly.............and a bronze tan is much more beautiful, you should see some of the scars people have from melanoma surgeries that will be with them the rest of their life. Think hard before you tan!

  • Warnings About Cancer from Tanning Beds to be Debated by FDA - AboutLawsuits.comJanuary 19, 2010 at 3:08 pm

    [...] Following a World Health Organization (WHO) decision last year to list tanning beds as known carcinogens, the FDA is considering tougher warning requirements in the United States about the potential risk of cancer from tanning beds. [...]

  • RebeccaJanuary 7, 2010 at 8:59 am

    Tanning beds are dangerous - stay out of them

  • LindaSeptember 1, 2009 at 12:12 am

    I'm a 55 yr. old female . I've just been told I have pre cancer cells on my legs. I'm olive complexed. I've all ways been in the sun, so now at 55, I'll tell you why cause from 1999 to 2005 I went to a tanning bed. all the time cause they use to say it was safer than the sun.

  • ShawnAugust 22, 2009 at 10:28 pm

    In 1996-1997 I worked for a lady part time in the evenings to make extra money . I worked in her Craft store /Tanning Salon As an employee, we were offered a discount on products in the store and also for Tanning sessions. I took advantage of the sessions and paid for a few . I used them as well. I was always told that the tanning beds were far more safe than that of the direct sunlight. I enjoy[Show More]In 1996-1997 I worked for a lady part time in the evenings to make extra money . I worked in her Craft store /Tanning Salon As an employee, we were offered a discount on products in the store and also for Tanning sessions. I took advantage of the sessions and paid for a few . I used them as well. I was always told that the tanning beds were far more safe than that of the direct sunlight. I enjoyed it very much. HOwever, My mother was a Cancer survivor and I have been very cautious about the sun and its damage. I also have been a smoker for many years. All of this news is very concerning and I wouldlike more information about what this means. is there a class action suit pending or already begiung that i need to know about or should I have my name on..

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