Issue Position: Tanning Beds

Issue Position

One in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime and using tanning beds before age 30 increases one's chance of developing a melanoma, the deadliest kind of skin cancer, by 75%.

Cancer experts have moved tanning beds into the top cancer risk category, deeming them as deadly as arsenic, mustard gas and plutonium. Not surprising since the damaging UVA irradiation intensity in these large powerful tanning units maybe 10-15 times higher than that of the midday sun.

Excess exposure to UVA radiation during indoor tanning can also lead to skin aging, immune system suppression and eye damage, including cataracts and ocular melanoma.

Melanoma is the most common form of cancer in young adults 25-29 years of age and the second most common cancer in adolescents and young adults 15-24 years of age. Sadly melanomas do not respond to chemotherapy or radiation and therefore, are often deadly.

Please, spread the word...Tanning beds may be dangerous to your health.

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