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By Erica Sawula
Would you purposely expose yourself to arsenic, radium or asbestos, knowing that all of these substances cause cancer?
Indoor tanning beds are just as likely to cause cancer, yet more than a million Canadians visit tanning salons every year.
It’s obvious from looking in magazines or watching television that having dark, golden skin, especially in winter, is sexy and a source of great pride.
In the last few years, however, scientists and doctors have become extremely concerned about the dangers associated with working on an indoor tan.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is an expert group that makes recommendations to the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2009, it concluded the risk of getting melanoma — the most deadly form of skin cancer – was increased due to the use of indoor tanning beds.
In Canada, the lifetime risk of melanoma for men is now one in 74. For women, it is one in 90. In comparison, the lifetime risk of melanoma for North Americans in the 1930s, when having a tan was not fashionable, was one in 1,500.
Indoor tanning beds emit ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Excessive UV radiation causes DNA damage to the skin. The body seeks to repair the damage and protect the skin by producing melanin, a substance that absorbs ultraviolet radiation and gives your skin a darker colour.
So, the tan you get from being in a tanning bed is actually your body’s way of protecting itself from future damage. The effect of UV rays on your skin is cumulative though. The more you are exposed to ultraviolet rays, the greater your chances of developing skin cancer.
And sometimes, skin cancer can take years to develop. It’s like getting into debt; it happens slowly. But you can save yourself out of debt; you can’t tan yourself out of melanoma.
The tanning industry and frequent indoor tanners continuously defend it though, and even promote indoor tanning as “healthy.”
Some argue that indoor tanning is safe because it emits more UVA radiation than UVB, both of which are emitted by the sun.
UVB is associated with the actual burn of a sunburn. But, just because UVA doesn’t cause your skin to ache, that doesn’t make it harmless. It still damages the deeper layers of your skin.
Scientists have found it to contribute to skin cancer just as much as UVB does.
Some tanning salons also advertise that their beds help to prevent cancer, possibly by assisting in the creation of extra Vitamin D. Vitamin D is readily available from the sun, and has many health benefits, including cancer prevention.
However, only a relatively short exposure to UV light is needed to produce sufficient amounts of Vitamin D. A 20-minute tanning session provides five to seven times more UV radiation than is needed. Plus, Vitamin D from food and dietary supplements offers the same benefits without the danger of skin cancer.
Indoor tanning is one of the fastest-growing industries nationally. Science has provided overwhelming evidence that indoor tanning can cause cancer. Will Canadians listen or will the drive to be beautiful outweigh the long-lasting damage?
Erica Sawula is a grad student in the Laurentian University/Science North Science Communication program. Have a question that can be answered in Northern Life’s science column, Talking Science? Send your question to [email protected].
