Many salon customers have seen recent news stories claiming that scientists say tanning beds are “as dangerous as arsenic,” or comparing indoor tanning to mustard gas. However, much of these reports is inaccurate and misleading, so the Indoor Tanning Association has prepared the following list of facts for salon owners, which can be used to answer any questions or concerns brought up by clients.
Facts
1. Tanning beds have been categorized as “Group 1” by a group of scientists in France. “Group 1” means there is evidence that the use of tanning beds can increase the risk of skin cancer. The information is not very new: sunlight is in the same category as tanning beds, and has been in that category since 1992. Just like sunlight, the light from tanning beds has UV rays that cause your skin to produce melanin.
2. Since 1992, thousands of doctors have recommended moderate exposure to sunlight for a variety of health benefits. Oprah guests Oz Mehmet and Andrew Weil are two prominent examples.
3. Being in the “Group 1” category does not say anything about the size of the risk, just that there is some amount of risk. Some things in the category are very dangerous, such as arsenic and mustard gas. Other substances only carry a very small risk, such as red wine, beer and salted fish.
Therefore, news stories that say things like “tanning is as dangerous as arsenic” are flat-out wrong. The scientists have not made that kind of comparison at all—it is simply an example of reporters looking for an attention-getting headline.
4. The report itself has not been made available. All of the current news stories are based on a press release—no reporters have actually read the report.
5. The IARC is a group of scientists that works with the United Nations. Their report is not a new study; it is a review of a paper from 2006, which itself was a review of 23 studies, some dating back to the early 1980s. Those studies had a wide range of findings. In fact, of the 23 studies:
- 5 were excluded for unusable data
- 6 had results suggesting that tanning beds actually reduce the risk of skin cancer
- 16 had results within the margin of error
5. Some news stories are including a misleading statistic: that tanning beds increase the risk of melanoma by 75 percent. This number comes from a study that used questionable methods. The study’s authors admit that they did not adjust for factors such as outside sun exposure and sun sensitivity in the study participants.
And, even if the study is accurate, it does not mean that 75 percent of tanning bed users will get melanoma, it simply means that their relative risk is slightly higher—in all actuality, because the issue is relative risk—and the original risk is very small—a percentage increase that looks big actually translates into a very small added risk.
To illustrate that point further: Your annual risk of a fatal car accident is about 0.013 percent. If that risk were increased by 75 percent, it would be 0.023 percent, or about 1 in 4,500. To put that number in perspective, the increase is 10 times smaller than the OSHA guideline for “acceptable risk.”
Source:
Indoor Tanning Association (ITA)
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