Tanning Salon Cancer Risk Often Ignored by Young Women: Study

Young women are aware that visits to indoor tanning salons increase the risk of cancer, but largely choose to ignore the dangers, according to the findings of a new report. 

Researchers from the University of Missouri indicate that almost every college-age white woman in a recent study said they plan to get a tan, with less than two-thirds planning to use sunscreen. One out of five young women tanned more than 50 times in one year. The findings of the study were presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.

The disregard for the risks of tanning and skin cancer have some experts concerned, with rates of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, having climbed 50% in women between the ages of 15 and 39 from 1980 to 2004. One-third of the women surveyed had a history of skin cancer in their family.

Despite the known risk, 96% of those women intend on getting a tan this year, which is slightly higher than the 93% who said they intentionally tanned last year. While most of those went out into the sun to get bronzed, one-third went to tanning salons and used tanning beds.

Researchers said that tanning salons were most popular in the Midwest, due to the long winters and decreased amount of sunlight. Regardless of location or tanning method, women said they were willing to gamble with skin cancer, disfigurement and death because they believed that a tan made them look more fit and more physically attractive.

A study by the World Health Organization in July 2009, indicated that use of tanning beds before the age of 30 may increase the risk of skin cancer by 75%. As a result of the study, WHO reclassified ultraviolet radiation from tanning beds as a definite carcinogen . Previously, they were considered “probable” carcinogens.

There have been increasing calls for a ban on the use of tanning beds for children under the age of 18. The American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) called for such a ban and an FDA advisory committee made similar recommendations in March 2010.

The American Cancer Society says that melanoma is diagnosed in about 69,000 Americans each year and causes about 8,650 deaths annually. Less dangerous, but more common, basal and squamous cell carcinomas affect more than one million Americans each year and cause about 2,000 deaths annually.