Tanning Devices

Teens and tanning beds aren't a healthy mix, says the American Academy of Pediatrics. The group urges banning children and teens from using indoor tanning devices because of an increased risk of skin cancer. In a policy statement released Monday, the organization says it favors outlawing access to tanning salons for children younger than 18. The statement cites several studies, including research that shows a link between people overexposed to the sun in childhood and melanoma, one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer.

Teens and tanning beds aren't a healthy mix, says the American Academy of Pediatrics. The group urges banning children and teens from using indoor tanning devices because of an increased risk of skin cancer. In a policy statement released Monday, the organization says it favors outlawing access to tanning salons for children younger than 18. The statement cites several studies, including research that shows a link between people overexposed to the sun in childhood and melanoma, one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer.

I'm standing in the airbrushing studio at Chocolate Sun in Santa Monica, braced for the cold chemical blast of a spray-on tan. Usually I'm wearing a paper shower cap, a mouth filter and plastic goggles, feeling like I'm some new breed of half-naked chemical warrior. This time, I'm wearing only the shower cap. And when the blast does hit, what I inhale doesn't smell like it could kill dolphins.

The tanning industry is worried about getting burned by the healthcare overhaul. A little-noticed provision of the Senate bill approved last month would slap a 10% tax on indoor tanning treatments to help extend healthcare coverage to millions of uninsured Americans. Government analysts have estimated the tax would raise $2.7 billion over 10 years. Some health advocates support taxing an activity that has been linked to skin cancer. But tanning salon owners said they're already getting squeezed like a bottle of Coppertone.

Three years after California became one of the first states to establish health and safety regulations for tanning salons, worried dermatologists say that the law has failed and that unsafe conditions persist throughout the industry. Although owners of tanning salons, and many of their patrons, disagree with that assessment, many salon operators support a second state law that would strictly regulate the fast-growing industry.

Dermatologists say they are seeing an increase in potentially serious tanning salon accidents, including eye damage and, in individuals who are taking medications that increase the skin's sensitivity, severe sunburn. An Indiana woman who died in 1989 after suffering third-degree burns at a tanning salon had been taking soralen, a medication for the skin disease psoriasis, which increased her sensitivity to light. Julie, an Orange County woman, also found out how easily mishaps can happen.

Across the great north, where the sun never sets in summer and never rises in winter, is a smattering of tanning parlors that promise what the arctic sun cannot: a tan. When the sun disappeared for the winter--it set Nov. 19 and will not rise again until Jan. 23--business started to pick up at Dorothy's Arctic Hair & Tanning Salon. "Some people come in just to lie down in the tanning bed and feel warm," owner Dorothy Dunbar said.

On a wet and gray March afternoon, with summer still seemingly light-years away, Gabriele Hagend climbed onto a glowing, violet sun bed and rose 21 minutes later with a summer tan and tremendous "sense of well-being." Looking at her pink cheeks, one could hardly tell that she had spent the entire day in an office, the entire winter in Germany. "I don't want to look like I'm baked, but it's quite nice to have a tan all the time," the 31-year-old wholesale trader said.

Many years ago Coco Chanel declared pasty-whiteness unfashionable, and so it must be. Never mind that sun exposure heightens the threat of skin cancer; a tan is still regarded as a sign of good health, fitness and beauty. But while the prospect of dealing with melanoma--or of someday having skin with the look and feel of genuine leather--has scared many of us into maintaining our natural pallor, others will never give up their glow.

Prompted by charges that some new tanning salons in Newport Beach may be fronts for prostitution rings, the City Council today will consider an emergency ordinance that would temporarily prohibit any new such businesses that offer live entertainment. The city proposed a 45-day freeze after it received an application for a tanning salon that planned live lingerie shows. Officials want to investigate the business's operations before granting a license.

I'm standing in the airbrushing studio at Chocolate Sun in Santa Monica, braced for the cold chemical blast of a spray-on tan. Usually I'm wearing a paper shower cap, a mouth filter and plastic goggles, feeling like I'm some new breed of half-naked chemical warrior. This time, I'm wearing only the shower cap. And when the blast does hit, what I inhale doesn't smell like it could kill dolphins.

Could there be more to a chronic tanner's addiction than the allure of honey-colored skin? Researchers at Wake Forest University report that habitual tanners may be drawn to tanning salons because the ultraviolet light produces a "relaxing" effect. Their study is published in the July issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. "I ask my patients who come in with mottled, rubbery skin, 'Why are you doing this?' " said Dr.

California will not bar minors from using tanning salons without a doctor's permission, as the state Senate on Friday rejected a proposed statewide ban. Supporters said the bill by Assemblyman Joe Nation (D-San Rafael) was a public health measure. Industry foes said moderate use of tanning salons can cut the risk of sunburn and skin cancer. The bill was defeated by a 19-9 vote.

Assemblyman Joe Nation is wary of the dark. And the bronze. And even that reddish pink glow. The Marin County lawmaker, who has pale skin and knows firsthand the dangers of skin cancer, wants to take away every California teenager's freedom to get a wicked indoor tan. He has introduced legislation banning anyone under 18 from using a tanning machine with ultraviolet rays, except under doctor's orders. No more after-school roasting or base-coating before spring break.

Women who visit tanning salons more than once a month are 55% more likely to develop malignant melanoma, and the risk more than doubles for women in their 20s who frequent tanning parlors, according to an eight-year study of more than 100,000 Scandinavians. The study, appearing this week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, analyzed the lifestyle and melanoma risk for women between 30 and 50.

Blame Coco Chanel. No matter how much research comes out about the cancer risk of sun exposure, tans haven't fallen out of fashion since the trend-setting French designer returned to Paris bronzed from a cruise on the Duke of Westminster's yacht shortly after World War I. Bottle tans are my sunless solution each summer. Trouble is, one errant swipe of the peanutty-smelling stuff can make you look sun-spackled instead of sun-kissed.

More than 1 million Americans a day bask in one of the 20,000 tanning salons in the United States--greatly increasing their risk of skin cancer, an expert panel has concluded. "We are clearly recommending against the use of tanning parlors for cosmetic purposes," said David Bickers, a dermatologist who chaired a National Institutes of Health panel on sunlight, ultraviolet radiation and the skin. Tanning parlors have often been advertised as being safer than exposure to natural sunlight.

California will not bar minors from using tanning salons without a doctor's permission, as the state Senate on Friday rejected a proposed statewide ban. Supporters said the bill by Assemblyman Joe Nation (D-San Rafael) was a public health measure. Industry foes said moderate use of tanning salons can cut the risk of sunburn and skin cancer. The bill was defeated by a 19-9 vote.

Half an hour on a sun bed can bombard tan-seekers with as much damaging ultraviolet A radiation as a day at the beach, cancer researchers said Thursday. Such tanning not only ages the skin, but also can cause damage that leads to skin cancer, Britain's Imperial Cancer Research Fund said in a statement accompanying new guidelines on sun beds. Sun beds emit mostly ultraviolet A radiation (UVA) that doctors thought was safer than the UVB normally associated with sunburns and skin cancer.

Many years ago Coco Chanel declared pasty-whiteness unfashionable, and so it must be. Never mind that sun exposure heightens the threat of skin cancer; a tan is still regarded as a sign of good health, fitness and beauty. But while the prospect of dealing with melanoma--or of someday having skin with the look and feel of genuine leather--has scared many of us into maintaining our natural pallor, others will never give up their glow.