WTF Fun Facts 12723 – No Such Thing As A “Safe Tan”

It’s been decades since we’ve known that tanning beds cause cancer and yet some folks just can’t get enough. It doesn’t help that the tanning industry continues to tout the benefits despite copious scientific evidence that they’re unsafe at best (and, at worst, deadly).

Of course, sun exposure is damaging too, but some of us can’t avoid that – you actually have to walk in and pay for skin damage at a tanning salon dispute there being no physiological benefit (for example, there’s no such thing as a “healthy base tan”).

In addition, a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine estimated that more than 3,200 people are treated for tanning-related injuries in US emergency rooms every year.

It’s hard to hear for many people as “tanning addition” becomes more of a problem, especially among young, white women.

But here are just a few facts from the American Academy of Dermatology Association to provide food for thought:

  • Even one indoor tanning session can increase the risk of developing skin cancer (melanoma by 20%, squamous cell carcinoma by 67%, and basal cell carcinoma by 29%).
  • Nearly 25% of young adults the Academy surveyed were unaware or unsure that tanning beds are not safer than the sun.
  • You can’t get enough vitamin D from tanning beds because the bulbs used emit mostly UVA light; however, your body needs UVB light to make vitamin D.
  • About 20% of 18- to 30-year-old white women who use tanning beds show signs of tanning addiction. When they don’t tan, they even report feeling fidgety or depressed.

And, finally, a Forbes article laid out the issues with indoor tanning as well as some research that shows our desire to tan may actually be influenced by genetics! — WTF fun facts

Source: “10 SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT INDOOR TANNING” — American Academy of Dermatology Association


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