Melanoma International Foundation Blog

By Bruce Brod, MD
Co-chair MIF Scientific Advisory Board,
Professor of Dermatology UPenn

Fifteen minutes at a tanning salon equals a full day at the beach. Exposure to ultraviolet light (UV) is one of the most preventable risk factors for the development of melanoma. In the past most people received most of their exposure to UV light from the sun. Currently much of this exposure stems from the use of indoor tanning salons. The ultraviolet light from indoor tanning salons is similar to that from the sun. The difference is that 15 minutes of UV light in a tanning salon creates as much damage to the skin as a full day at the beach.Tanning salons have targeted our teenagers and young adults in their marketing strategies. On an average day in the United States, more than 1 million people enter a tanning salon. Of those customers, 70 percent are Caucasian girls and women, aged 16 to 49 years. In a 2002 study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, approximately seven percent of girls aged 14 reported they had used tanning beds in 2001, while 16 percent of girls age 15 had reported doing so. By age 17, the statistic increased to 35 percent of girls who had used tanning beds. According to a 2002 study published in the Archives of Dermatology, 47 percent of students at a Midwestern university had used tanning beds in 2001. Of those surveyed, 90 per cent also admitted to knowing that tanning is a health risk, yet they continued to use tanning beds frequently. There are a number of studies including a Swedish study that present strong evidence that indoor tanning increases the risk of melanoma, especially when indoor tanning begins at an early age.

In Pennsylvania, we have been working with legislators for years in an effort to enact legislation to regulate and restrict access to indoor tanning salons. There are currently only 25 states that regulate youth access to indoor tanning despite support from the World Health Organization, the American Academy of Dermatology Association, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Melanoma International Foundation to ban the use of indoor tanning equipment by anyone under the age of 18. A goal should be for no minor to use a tanning device. There should be a Surgeon General’s warning on all tanning devices. Tanning salons should not be allowed to advertise indoor tanning as “safe”, using words that include “no harmful rays”, “no adverse effect”, or similar wording concepts.