Michael Caldwell For the Poughkeepsie Journal
I was pleased to see this past month the Food and Drug Administration has finally proposed to restrict the use of indoor tanning devices to individuals 18 and older. It’s about time.
Dutchess County was in the lead on this issue more than a decade ago when the Board of Health amended our Sanitary Code to regulate indoor tanning facilities with Article 27. We were the first community in the state to require a permit for operating tanning beds and to make sure that tanning facilities are routinely inspected. We also required that customers be provided an informational pamphlet outlining the known scientific dangers of indoor tanning equipment.
Statistics
There is good news. The number of people who tan indoors appears to be dropping. The National Cancer Institute estimates that about 7.8 million women and 1.9 million men continue to use indoor tanning devices. While this is unacceptably high, it has decreased about 5 percent over the past few years. This is an encouraging trend and indicates that we are finally getting the message that tanning is harmful. Unfortunately, young women and teenage girls are particularly susceptible to being influenced to try indoor tanning. Help me by educating a young person in your life to avoid the tan.
Tell them that if you believe beauty is only skin deep then you should know that the same ultraviolet rays that cause your skin to tan, also severely damage it. Tanning makes your skin thin, dries it out and causes advanced aging. Choose healthy beautiful skin and avoid tanning. “Many people who tan indoors do it to get a so-called base tan,” said Anne M. Hartman of the National Cancer Institute, “in the belief that it might protect against skin damage from sun exposure during outdoor activities. But there is no such thing as a safe base tan, whether you tan outdoors or indoors.”
FDA proposal
Health experts are unanimous and tell us that indoor tanning is dangerous and should not be done. The FDA is now proposing to restrict indoor tanning facilities to those only over age 18. Everyone else would have to sign a certification acknowledging that they have been informed of the health risks related to the use of indoor tanning devices at their first indoor tanning session and every six months after that.
There are an average of more than 3,000 emergency room visits in the United States each year due to injuries related to indoor tanning. More than 400 of these patients were under 18.
“The FDA is particularly concerned about children and teens being exposed to UV radiation from indoor tanning because the effects of exposure add up over your lifetime,” said Dr. Markham C. Luke of the FDA. “Exposure to UV radiation from indoor tanning is a preventable cause of skin cancer.”
I encourage you to visit the FDA website so you can read and send an official comment to the FDA about their proposal: http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm350790.htm
The FDA is accepting comments through March 21.
New York state efforts
While Dutchess County set the standard, New York state followed our lead and eventually required tanning facilities to be licensed and inspected statewide. In fact the state asked our local public health sanitarians for advice on crafting and implementing the state law. In New York, youth under 17 are now prohibited from using tanning beds and adults are required to sign an informed consent. The current state law was enacted in 2012 and raised the minimum age for indoor tanning, which had previously been just 14 years old.
Skin cancer risks and prevention
Most skin cancers can be identified and cured if detected early. Routine skin screenings are important. Regularly examine yourself and get to know your skin so you can recognize any changes and bring it to the attention of your doctor. The Skin Cancer Foundation describes important warning signs at http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/early-detection/if-you-can-spot-it-you-can-stop-it
Also check out the SPOT Skin Cancer program’s website: www.SpotSkinCancer.org
Stick with sunless tanning lotions
If you are absolutely determined to darken your skin, stick with over-the-counter sunless tanning lotions. These products are readily available and are a great alternative to the danger of tanning in the sun or a tanning bed. Carefully follow the labeling instructions and keep the product away from your eyes, mouth and nose. Tanning lotions are preferable to the commercial spray tans since you have more control over how much product you are using. Spray tanning applies the product over the whole body. You can limit your exposure to only those areas that you want tanned using lotions and you avoid the risk of inhaling the product.
We still need the sun
While we all should absolutely avoid indoor tanning, we still need to get our daily dose of sunshine. The science is clear that some sun exposure is important for health, especially to maintain healthful vitamin D levels. Research shows that low vitamin D levels are linked to heart disease. Bottom line is that we all need to keep our bodies moving outdoors throughout the year.
So go out and enjoy those cold sunny days we have been having here in the Hudson Valley. If you dress appropriately and protect your skin, make the effort and time to be outside to enjoy the limited sunshine we have this time of year. It’s the best prescription for your health.
Dangers of indoor tanning
Indoor tanning exposes users to two types of UV rays, UVA and UVB, which damage the skin and can lead to cancer. Indoor tanning is particularly dangerous for younger users; people who begin indoor tanning during adolescence or early adulthood have a higher risk of getting melanoma. This may be due to greater use of indoor tanning among those who begin tanning at earlier ages.
Every time you tan, you increase your risk of getting skin cancer, including melanoma. Indoor tanning also:
•Causes premature skin aging, like wrinkles and age spots.
•Changes your skin texture.
•Increases the risk of potentially blinding eye diseases, if eye protection is not used.
Facts about indoor tanning
The best way to protect your skin from the sun is by using these tips for skin cancer prevention.
Tanning indoors is not safer than tanning in the sun.
Indoor tanning and tanning outside are both dangerous. Although indoor tanning devices operate on a timer, the exposure to UV rays can vary based on the age and type of light bulbs. Indoor tanning is designed to give you high levels of UV radiation in a short time. You can get a burn from tanning indoors, and even a tan indicates damage to your skin.
A base tan is not a safe tan.
A tan is the body’s response to injury from UV rays. A base tan does little to protect you from future damage to your skin caused by UV exposure. In fact, people who indoor tan are more likely to report getting sunburned.
Indoor tanning is not a safe way to get vitamin D.
Although it is important to get enough vitamin D, the safest way to do so is through what you eat. Tanning harms your skin, and the amount of UV exposure you need to get enough vitamin D is hard to measure because it is different for every person and also varies with the weather, latitude, altitude and more.
Dr. Michael Caldwell is the former Dutchess County Commissioner of Health. Send comments tohealthchief@yahoo.com; Twitter: @healthchief
Source:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/basic_info/indoor_tanning.htm
This article was originally published by the Poughkeepsie Journal on January 8, 2016. To see the original article, click here: https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/health/2016/01/08/health-indoor-tanning-sunshine/78510548/
Comentários