Choose your poison: arsenic, mustard gas or tanning beds

By Khadija Ghani, Loyola University of Chicago, Written for UPI

Published: Aug. 3, 2009 at 1:33 PM

CHICAGO, July 31 (UPI) -- An authoritative cancer research agency has added tanning beds to an infamous list of deadly health risks.

After analyzing 20 studies, the International Agency for Research on Cancer labeled tanning beds a definite cause of cancer and as deadly as arsenic or mustard gas.

The new analysis published in Lancet Oncology, an online medical journal, said that the risk of skin cancer increased by 75 percent for tanning bed users under the age of 30.

The agency, part of the World Health Organization, said the lights used in tanning beds mainly give off ultraviolet radiation, which can cause skin and eye cancer. The new study also said all types of ultraviolet radiation are suspected carcinogens because they all have caused mutations in mice. Previously, scientists had believed that only one type of ultraviolet radiation was cancer-causing.

The Indoor Tanning Association ran a full-page advertisement in the New York Post calling the new reports “media hype.” It said tanning beds are safe if used in moderation.

The Sunbed Association, a European trade association of tanning bed makers and operators, also challenged the study's findings.

"The fact that is continuously ignored is that there is no proven link between the responsible use of sunbeds and skin cancer," an association statement on its Web site said. "The relationship between UV exposure and an increased risk of developing skin cancer is only likely to arise where over-exposure and burning in particular has taken place."

However, as the use of tanning beds increases for people under the age of 30, doctors have reported a correlating rise in the number of young people with skin cancer. In Britain, melanoma is the leading cancer diagnosed in women in there 20s.

Previous studies of tanning beds had found that younger people are eight times more likely to get melanoma than people who have never used them.

The story above was selected for publication from work submitted to UPI’s new initiative for aspiring journalists, UPIU. Click here to learn more about UPIU.

Rate: