One, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ultraviolet radiation is a proven human carcinogen.
Two, frequent tanners using new high-pressure sunlamps may receive as much as 12 times the annual UV dose compared to the dose they receive from sun exposure.
Three, nearly 30 milliion people tan indoors in the U.S. every year; 2.3 million of them are teens.
Four, on an average day, more than 1 million Americans use tanning salons.
Five, seventy-one percent of tanning customers are girls and women aged 16-29.
Six, first exposure to tanning beds in youth increases melanoma risk by 75%.
Seven, the indoor tanning industry has an annual revenue of - wait for it - $5 billion!
They are making money off our health and our kids' health.
One afternoon, I had finished an errand which was right next door to a tanning salon. I saw two girls, about sixteen, heading for the salon. I said, "Hi, girls, going to the tanning salon?" "Yes," they replied. I figured I had about two more seconds and then they'd be gone. "Do you know it causes cancer?" "Yes," one replied, "But we'll be old when we get it."
I'm sure my mouth dropped open but all I was going to get in it were flies if I held it open any longer. Yes, they know it causes cancer. But they'll be old they they do.
Had there been tanning salons when I was a teenager, I suppose I could have, wanting a tan to look 'healthy' (there's an odd twist), come up with the same 'logic'. My parents were only in their late 30's but that felt old to me at the time.
But now, wisdom having visited me through the death of my husband to skin cancer, I thought what on earth would have to be said or done to keep these girls from NOT going in there? When teens are determined, there is little on this earth that can stop them.
Besides new rules and regulations for tanning salons, which would be a great start, I think the second part of the equation is the "p" word. You know it ... parents. The only other thing I can think of is instilling real, genuine, heart-pounding fear into them. Not by threats of punishment, but by showing them a photo and a story they could read about someone closer to their age who died of skin cancer.
Melanoma is seven times more common between the ages of 10 and 20 than between 0 and 10 years. Ninety percent of pediatric melanoma cases occur in girls aged 10-19.
There are a lot of facts here to digest. But if you only retain one point, please let it be this one: tanning beds do not make you look healthy. They are not healthy. If you or your kids visit them regularly, they could kill you. So, if there's a long line to get in, be the one to take the hand of your daughter and step out of line and go to an aerobics class instead. THAT will make you and her feel, look and be ... healthy.
LYNN ROSE is the founder of Soleil Chic UV Umbrellas. After a long career as a pianist-vocalist-composer and award-winning screenwriter, Lynn changed her career after losing her husband to malignant melanoma. SOLEIL CHIC umbrellas have been seen on THE TODAY SHOW as well as in the hands of celebrities like Cate Blanchett. Soleil Chic umbrellas are endorsed by top doctors including a dermatologist, rheumatologist, plastic surgeon and professor of anatomy and neurobiology. The Mayo Clinc recommends Lynn Rose's umbrellas as well. Top resort/spas such as the Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas, and The Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui, carry her products. Soleil Chic's worldwide customer base continues to increase every day. Visit the website @ http://www.soleilchic.com
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