The question posed in the headline of this article is patently absurd because exposure to UVR light is absolutely essential in order to sustain human life. Given this incontrovertible scientific fact, does it make sense to ban teens from accessing the only controlled source of UVR exposure—indoor tanning salons—and then fail to ban their access to uncontrolled sources of UVR, such as sun exposure on the beach? After all, there is no difference between the UVR emitted by tanning equipment and the UVR emitted by the sun.
To single out indoor tanning salons with restrictive legislation and not do the same for outdoor activities (such as swimming, sunbathing, hiking, golfing, tennis, baseball and football) indicates that the underlying objective is to vilify indoor tanning salons, not to protect the skin of teenagers.
How about the fact that outdoor workers are regularly exposed to high levels of UVR year-round? Or the fact that anyone can use home tanning equipment as often as they want, for as long as they want? Why is it just tanning salons that take the legislative hit? Ignoring these other common situations in which teens are exposed to UVR, while over-regulating tanning salons, could even be grounds for a future class-action suit against local, state and federal entities.
And, of course, there’s the fact that the tanning industry is the only group warning the public about the dangers of both overexposure and underexposure to UVR. Just consider the benefits of moderate UV exposures:
The development of photoprotective facultative pigmentation. Mother Nature has endowed us with two natural ways to prevent UVR-induced skin damage. The first line of defense is our constitutive pigmentation, or natural skin color, and the second is the development of facultative pigmentation, or a tan. One of the most important—but almost always overlooked—benefits of photoprotective facultative pigmentation is the increase in tolerance to UVR (which is equivalent to increasing the SPF level of a sunscreen) and the concomitant decrease in sensitivity to UVR (which is defined as the propensity to sunburn ). As you can see from these graphs, constitutive and facultative pigmentation work together to protect our skin cells from UVR damage.
In addition, the graphs show that there is an inverse relationship between tolerance to ultraviolet radiation (t/UVR) and sensitivity to ultraviolet radiation (s/UVR). For example, a skin subtype 3B (the “average” natural skin color in the U.S.) with no tan has a t/UVR of 2.5, and an s/UVR of 40 percent. The same skin type with a medium tan increases t/UVR to 5.0 and decreases s/UVR to 20 percent. The same skin type with a maximum tan increases t/UVR to 10.0 and decreases s/UVR to 10 percent. Therefore, t/UVR and s/UVR should be thought of as two sides of the same coin.
The stimulation of vitamin D. Research indicates that an insufficient level of vitamin D (25-OH-D) significantly increases the risk of developing diseases such as rickets, osteomalacia, cancer, coronary heart disease, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, lupus and osteoporosis—yet more than 90 percent of teenagers are shown to have an insufficient level of vitamin D when the threshold level of 100 nmol/L is used. This would seem to indicate that legislation should actually focus on increasing controlled exposure to ultraviolet radiation, not discouraging it. It appears that well-meaning but misinformed legislators are overlooking the fact that 40 percent of bone mass is accumulated during adolescence and, therefore, that maintaining an optimal level of calcium and vitamin D during the teenage years is essential.
In addition, when the vitamin D threshold level is just 100 nmol/L (we have long advocated maintaining a level of 150 nmol/L), we estimate that 1,000 individuals die prematurely each year due to underexposure to UVR. Compare that to every one individual who dies prematurely each year due to overexposure to UVR.
The relaxation and reduction of stress. A recent scientific article looked at the effect of where you live on your state of mind. It was interesting to note that the highest reported levels of frequent mental distress (FMD) were in the states with the lowest levels of ambient UVR year-round. One can’t help but wonder if a visit to an indoor tanning salon once or twice each week would help reduce the incidence of FMD in those states, especially during the winter months.
The increase in consumers’ self-esteem. Self-esteem is defined as a people’s attitudes toward themselves, and it is closely associated with personality functioning. High self-esteem is manifested by enhanced initiative, happiness and life satisfaction, and is positively associated with a better self-rated health level. Low self-esteem, on the other hand, has been correlated to poor physical health. When people think that they look good, it improves their outlook on life and increases their self-esteem. This is especially true for teenage females, who tend to value appearance greatly. Therefore, attempts by legislators to discourage teenagers from tanning, especially teen girls, is counterproductive and certainly not helping their self-esteem.
Here is the bottom line: Well-meaning but misguided legislators place campaign contributions and political correctness above the health and welfare of the American public (especially teenagers, who have no political voice), and believe any and all anti-tanning messages without checking their validity. These lawmakers are guilty of only protecting the one individual who dies prematurely each year because of overexposure to UVR while failing to protect the rights of the 1,000 individuals who die prematurely each year because of the adverse consequences of underexposure to UVR.
It is time for a mindset change, in which legislators promote that the enemy of the public is overexposure and underexposure to UVR—not the moderate, controlled ultraviolet radiation exposure found at a professional indoor tanning salon.
Patricia E. Reykdal and Donald L. Smith operate the Non-Ionizing Radiation Research Institute in Tucson, Ariz. They have written many articles promoting the benefits of controlled ultraviolet radiation exposure (CURE). You can e-mail comments or questions to dermwatcher@msn.com.
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