LoveLife | July 29, 2009 | 9 comments

Tanning beds do cause cancer: Scientists

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jul/29/tanning-sunbeds-cancer

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Some of the worlds biggest cancer scientists have come together to announce that sun beds are as carcinogenic as smoking tobacco.

For many years members of the tanning industry have claimed that there are health benefits to using sun beds but now the group of leading scientists claims there is no evidence of this.

The Department of Health has said "Sunbeds can be dangerous – we must ensure that people who use them do so safely. If necessary we will look at new laws to protect young people."

"The use of UV-emitting tanning devices is widespread in many developed countries, especially among young women. A comprehensive meta-analysis concluded that the risk of skin melanoma is increased by 75% when use of tanning devices starts before 30 years of age." Several studies had also linked sunbed use to a greater likelihood of developing a rare eye cancer called ocular melanoma.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has now put sun beds in its highest risk category.
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9 comments // Tanning beds do cause cancer: Scientists

  • tanningmaster
    • 0
      tanningmaster  

    • Just an FYI for all you anti-sun people. The tanning bed itself is not what conttributes to skin cancer but idiotic people who tend to tan longer than the reccommend time. BURNING is where skin cancer comes from, NOT DEVELOPING A SAFE TAN! UV light raises our vitamin d levels which is important for maintaining out internal health. Did you know that having proper Vitamin D levels makes you 60% less likely to develop breast cancer? Just another FYI about vitamin d, you would need to drink around 40 glasses of milk to get the correct level of vitamin d. Im sure many of us do that. Did you know people in northern climates are more likely to develop skin cancer? Did you know that indoor workers are more likely to develop skin cancer? Did you know there are more deaths in the winter months? Did you know african americans are more prone to diseases and sicknesses? I wonder if this is because they already have a beautiful tan and fail to expose themselves to uv light making them super Vitamin D deficient. Why is it that rickets develops in children who not exposed to sunshine? Why does sunlight help rid jaundice? You answer all these questions with your anti-tanning answers and maybe we can debate this. If you know anything about cancer you know its from a damaged cell mutliplying and spreading. BURNING destroys skin cells so at the end of the day the golden rule is you avoid burning you avoid skin cancer. Dont jeopardize your health to profit the sunscreen industries. Empower yourself and find where doctor agreeing tanning is healthy and natural if done safely and moderatly :)

    • 2 years ago
  • saverio
  • smurph25
  • AnnieMole
    • 0
      AnnieMole  

    • Wonder if there'll be a tax on sunbeds soon then? Or if they'll carry health warnings like on packets of cigarettes or have pictures of people with really wrinkled crocodile skin on the sides of them?

    • 2 years ago
  • couldntfindausername
    • 0
      couldntfindausername  
    • AnnieMole:

      I would imagine that, if anything is done at all, it would be along the lines of the rules governing paracetamol [restricted pac size/quantity per transaction].

      A ban on cosmetic tanning would obviously be the smarter but unlikely move, and the danger would be that such a ban could interfere with certain medical applications.

      The most likely outcome is that politicians will wring their hands, mutter some platitudes, and then promptly ignore the whole thing.

    • 2 years ago
  • couldntfindausername
    • 0
      couldntfindausername  

    • The main point of this new research isn't that sunbeds are carcinogenic [that has long since been established] but rather the extent of the danger [I haven't had a chance to look at the original paper yet to see if that 75% figure is accurate].

    • 2 years ago
  • tomsbrain
    • 0
      tomsbrain  

    • Does this mean TV will relegate sunbeds and those who use them to after the watershed?

      Buh-bye, David Dickinson! You know, it is for our own safety.

    • 2 years ago
  • benson5
  • abbym0308
    • 0
      abbym0308  

    • Cigarette companies used to play up health benefits of smoking, and we all know where that lead us. I wonder if they'll ever ban tanning beds for good. I mean, is it really worth risking cancer just to get an orange tinge to your skin?

    • 2 years ago
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