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Tanning Beds Now Considered High Cancer Risk
May 27, 2010
Huntsville, AL--If you're thinking about getting a quick tan in a tanning bed, you might want to think again. The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) recently moved tanning beds to the highest-risk cancer category of radiation sources.
According to the authors report in the August issue of The Lancet Oncology, the group "raised the classsification of the use of UV-emitting tanning devices to Group 1". Group 1 is defined as 'carcinogenic to humans'. The working group also reported that there is "consistent evidence of an association between the use of UV-emitting tanning devices and ocular melanoma."
"We have seen a dramatic rise in melanoma, especially among young women, in recent years, " according to Dr. Philip McGee, oncologist at Clearview Cancer Institute.
The indoor tanning industry has often claimed that tanning beds are safe as they provide more UVA radiation than UVB. However the IARC group research studies found that ultraviolet A (UVA), ultraviolet B (UVB) and ultraviolet C (UVC) radiation all cause cancer in animal models.
The National Institute of Health studies have reported that melanoma rates among young women in the U.S. almost tripled between 1973 and 2004. The IARC group further noted their own research analysis in 2006, citing that use of tanning beds before age 30 to be associated with a 75% increase in melanoma risk.
"Approximately 62,000 new cases of melanoma were diagnosed in the U.S. alone in 2008," McGee said. "This announcement should make people think twice before using a tanning bed.
Contact: Leslie Vallely