How Safe are Tanning Beds?

Around one million people use tanning beds each year in the US. Yet the ultraviolet (UV) light they use causes skin cancer. The risk is so high that a recent article from researchers at the University of Michigan called for an immediate ban on the use of commercial indoor tanning by minors, and the phasing out of all commercial tanning operations in the United States over the next 5 years.

Acknowledgements: This Risk Bites video is based on work by Diana Bowman, Ryan Lewis, Maximilian Lee and Catherine Yao (see first article below in Further Information)

Backing track: Blue and Green by Rimsky. http://www.premiumbeat.com/royalty_fr...

FURTHER INFORMATION:

The Growing Public Health Challenges of Exposure to Ultraviolet Radiation From Use of Indoor Tanning Devices in the United States. Diana M. Bowman, Ryan C. Lewis, Maximilian S. Lee, andCatherine J. Yao (2015). NEW SOLUTIONS: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10482911155...

The US Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent Skin Cancer: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library...

The American Academy of Dermatology: Dangers of Indoor Tanning. https://www.aad.org/media-resources/s...

IARC: The association of use of sunbeds with cutaneous malignant melanoma and other skin cancers: A systematic review. (2006). International Journal of Cancer vol. 120 issue 5 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ijc.22453

IARC: 2009 classification of tanning beds as a group 1 carcinogen (The Lancet): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(...

US Food and Drug Administration: Indoor Tanning: The Risks of Ultraviolet Rays. http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/Consu...

Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) – Skin Cancer Foundation http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer...

Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) – Skin Cancer Foundation http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer...

Melanoma – Skin Cancer Foundation http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer...

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