Tanning beds still popular: U.S. study

About one in five women in the United Statesuse tanning beds despite research suggesting they can increase the risk of skin cancer,according to a new study.

The study in the December issue of Archives of Dermatology delved into common characteristics of indoor tanners.

Overall, 18.1 per cent of women and 6.3 per cent of men reported using indoor tanning facilities during the previous 12 months, Kelvin Choi of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and his co-authors found.

The researchers analyzed national data for 2,869 participants 18 to 64 years old who answered questions about their lifestyle and tanning habits in 2005.

Several studies have linked indoor tanning to a heightened risk of skin cancer.

Earlier this year, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel recommended a ban on the use of tanning beds by people under age 18a move also urged by the Canadian Cancer Society.

In the U.S. study, a subset focusing on 821 people who were asked what they knew about skin cancer prevention found 13.3 per cent of women and 4.2 per cent of men said avoiding tanning beds was one of the ways to preventskin cancer.

'Perhaps people are confused by the messages from the indoor tanning industry on possible benefits of indoor tanning.' University of Minnesota study

Spray tans tended not to be used as a substitute for tanning beds. Rather, people used both, the researchers said.

The finding suggests the message that artificial light carries an increased skin cancer riskisn'tgetting through, said the study's authors.

"Perhaps people are confused by the messages from the indoor tanning industry on possible benefits of indoor tanning, e.g., getting vitamin D [important for bone health] from moderate exposure to artificial UV radiation," conclude the authors of the study, which was funded by the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

"This possibility is also suggested by the fact that women and men who suggested sunscreen use as a method to reduce their skin cancer risk were more likely to have tanned indoors."

The Indoor Tanning Association, which represents manufacturers, distributors and facility owners, lists positive psychological and physical effects of ultraviolet light and exposure to vitamin D.

The group's home page also notes, "You don't need to become tan for your skin to make vitamin D. Exposure to ultraviolet radiation may increase the likelihood of developing skin cancer and can cause serious eye injury."

Canadian salons teach clientsto practice moderation and burn prevention, notedSteven Gilroy, executive director of theCanadian Tanning Association, a national non-profit organization that represents the tanning industry.

The Minnesota researchers designed the survey topromote theidea thatany UV exposure is harmful, Gilroy said, adding they were motivated by "their ties to political efforts to curtail sunbed usage."

The researchers called for clinicians and media campaigns to focus on disseminating information aboutthe harms of indoor tanning among adults, and not just youngerpeople,to reduceits prevalence.